Fatty acids found on the surface of water droplets react with sunlight to form organic molecules, a new study reports, essentially uncovering a previously unknown form of photolysis.
The results could affect models that account for aerosol particles, including models related to climate. Conventional wisdom holds that carboxylic acids and saturated fatty acids, which are abundant throughout the environment, only react with hydroxyl radicals and are not affected by sunlight.
However, these previous conclusions are based on observations of the molecules in a gas phase, or dissolved in solution.
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Image: The photochemical reactor used to investigate the photochemistry at the air-sea interface.
Image Credits: Monica Passananti
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