Chemistry seminar: RSC Marlow Prize Tour

Join the University of Bristol's Dr Bryan Bzdek as he gives his seminar, "New Approaches to Characterising the Surface and Bulk Compositions of Picodroplets".

Speaker: Dr. Bryan Bzdek (Bristol)

Aerosols are unique microcompartments central to areas as diverse as climate and air pollution, disease transmission, and chemical synthesis. Resolving their roles in each of these areas is challenging. For instance, the surface composition of aerosol droplets is key to predicting cloud droplet number concentrations, understanding atmospheric pollutant transformation, and interpreting observations of accelerated droplet chemistry. However, direct measurement of the surface properties of aerosol droplets is challenging, even though such measurements are necessary, as surface-bulk partitioning is strongly affected by the droplet’s surface area-to-volume ratio. In this presentation, we will discuss new advances to characterise the equilibrium and dynamic surface properties of picolitre volume droplets, gaining important insights that bear directly on our understanding of how cloud droplets form in the atmosphere and how chemical reactions may proceed in finite-volume systems. We will also describe a new mass spectrometry approach enabling sensitive, high throughput chemical analysis of picolitre droplets, facilitating more robust studies of the factors governing chemical reactivity in microcompartments.

2023 Faraday early career prize: Marlow Prize

For pioneering contributions to aerosol physical chemistry, including the surface composition of microscopic droplets, new particle formation in the atmosphere, and the physicochemical properties of respiratory aerosols.

https://www.rsc.org/prizes-funding/prizes/2023-winners/dr-bryan-bzdek/