title: Fractal morphology, imaging and mass spectrometry of single aerosol particles in flight.
abstract: The morphology of micrometre-size particulate matter is of critical importance in fields ranging from toxicology to climate science, yet these properties are surprisingly difficult to measure in the particles' native environment. Electron microscopy requires collection of particles on a substrate; visible light scattering provides insufficient resolution; and X-ray synchrotron studies have been limited to ensembles of particles. Here we demonstrate an in situ method for imaging individual sub-micrometre particles to nanometre resolution in their native environment, using intense, coherent X-ray pulses from the Linac Coherent Light Source free-electron laser. We introduced individual aerosol particles into the pulsed X-ray beam, which is sufficiently intense that diffraction from individual particles can be measured for morphological analysis. At the same time, ion fragments ejected from the beam were analysed using mass spectrometry, to determine the composition of single aerosol particles. Our results show the extent of internal dilation symmetry of individual soot particles subject to non-equilibrium aggregation, and the surprisingly large variability in their fractal dimensions. More broadly, our methods can be extended to resolve both static and dynamic morphology of general ensembles of disordered particles. Such general morphology has implications in topics such as solvent accessibilities in proteins, vibrational energy transfer by the hydrodynamic interaction of amino acids, and large-scale production of nanoscale structures by flame synthesis.
authors: PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors: N D
authors: ND
authors: Loh
authors: C Y
authors: CY
authors: Hampton
authors: A V
authors: AV
authors: Martin
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Starodub
authors: R G
authors: RG
authors: Sierra
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Barty
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Aquila
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Schulz
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Lomb
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Steinbrener
authors: R L
authors: RL
authors: Shoeman
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Kassemeyer
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Bostedt
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Bozek
authors: S W
authors: SW
authors: Epp
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Erk
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Hartmann
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Rolles
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Rudenko
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Rudek
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Foucar
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Kimmel
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Weidenspointner
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Hauser
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Holl
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Pedersoli
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Liang
authors: M S
authors: MS
authors: Hunter
authors: M M
authors: MM
authors: Hunter
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Gumprecht
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Coppola
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Wunderer
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Graafsma
authors: F R N C
authors: FR
authors: Maia
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Ekeberg
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Hantke
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Fleckenstein
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Hirsemann
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Nass
authors: T A
authors: TA
authors: White
authors: H J
authors: HJ
authors: Tobias
authors: G R
authors: GR
authors: Farquar
authors: W H
authors: WH
authors: Benner
authors: S P
authors: SP
authors: Hau-Riege
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Reich
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Hartmann
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Soltau
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Marchesini
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Bajt
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Barthelmess
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Bucksbaum
authors: K O
authors: KO
authors: Hodgson
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Strüder
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Ullrich
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Frank
authors: I
authors: I
authors: Schlichting
authors: H N
authors: HN
authors: Chapman
authors: M J
authors: MJ
authors: Bogan
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D004583:Electrons; D017709:Fractals; D007834:Lasers; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D009038:Motion; D053758:Nanoparticles; D010316:Particle Size; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry; D053260:Soot / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D014732:Vibration; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000596:Amino Acids; D011506:Proteins; D012997:Solvents; D053260:Soot