Detail:

Abstract:
　　Atmospheric aerosols can severely affect human health and cause allergies, asthma, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Aerosols have also significant effects on Earth’s climate. They have direct effects of Earth’s energy balance by scattering of, for example, incoming solar radiation and indirect effects by serving as cloud condensation nuclei.
　　The first part of the presentation will be about photo-reaction (‘smog’) chamber experiments to study ageing of soot aerosol particles. Soot particles consist of many primary particles and have complex morphologies. If soot particles are coated with volatile organic compounds or secondary organic aerosol, they undergo structural changes.
　　In the second part of the talk, spectroscopic studies of clusters of organic acids with water will be described. Such clusters are thought to play a critical role in the initial steps of secondary organic aerosol particle formation.