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Research · Earth SciencesAerosol ResearchAerosols are tiny solid and/or liquid particles suspended in the air; aerosol particles are ubiquitous in the environment. The Aerosol Research Program in ESD focuses on fine airborne particles no larger than 100 micrometers, mostly less than 10 micrometers and as small as sub-nanometer as in the size of molecular clusters. The program goals are to improve understandings of properties, transformation, mass and energy transport, and interactions of particles with surrounding materials. Particles in the atmosphere are responsible for many natural phenomena such as the colors of the rainbow, visibility such as the haziness of sky over many metropolitan areas in the US and the world, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) in Southeastern US. Carbonaceous particles, primarily derived from combustion, dust, sulfate, and secondary organic aerosol have latterly been proposed as important players in atmospheric radiative energy transfer, cloud cycles, climate change, and surface-atmosphere interactions. Particles are the fundamental building blocks for engineered/structured or natural materials. Powdered materials have been used in medicine, food, energetics/explosives, and fuels, and so on has by industries for many centuries, and essential for many technologies. Human activities such as mining, smelting, transportation, and electricity production are major modern day particle sources, however. With advances of nanotechnology, our ability to manipulate the building blocks has reached atomic-molecular precision. Nanotechnology has promised to bring major impacts to all aspects of life in the coming decades, but the environmental and biological interactions with nanoscale materials are unclear at the present and much is to be learned. Overall, key components of ORNL/ESD's aerosol research directions contain: (1) investigation of particle behavior in the atmosphere and industrial workplaces, (2) interactions of engineered and anthropogenic pollution particles with biological systems, and (3) development of advanced instrumentation and measurement methodology. Researchers in the aerosol research group collaborates with scientists in the US and the world on issues related to air toxics such as semi-volatile organics, mercury and beryllium, electrical and optical detection techniques, and particle toxicity at the whole animal and cellular levels. The aerosol research program in ESD has been funded by program offices of federal agencies from the Department of Energy (i.e., EMSP, OBER, FE, OTT, NN, NNSA/Y-12), Department of Defense (SERDP, ESTCP, and military installations), cooperative research agreements with industry, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory LDRD program office. Peer-Reviewed Publications and Professional Presentations
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