Yq. Li et al., Mass and thermal accommodation coefficients of H2O(g) on liquid water as afunction of temperature, J PHYS CH A, 105(47), 2001, pp. 10627-10634
The probabilities that a water vapor molecule striking a liquid water surfa
ce will (1) thermally equilibrate with the liquid surface and (2) penetrate
that surface and be incorporated into the bulk liquid are parameters of fu
ndamental importance to both chemical physics and atmospheric science. Here
we report values for these parameters as a function of temperature in the
range of 258-280 K, measured with a droplet train flow reactor under condit
ions that circumvent difficulties encountered in earlier studies. The mass
accommodation coefficient (alpha) of H2O(g) on water was determined by meas
uring the uptake of O-17 labeled gas-phase water under near equilibrium con
ditions. The mass accommodation coefficient has a negative temperature depe
ndence, with the magnitude ranging from 0.17 +/- 0.03 at 280 K to 0.32 +/-
0.04 at 258 K. The temperature dependence and the magnitude of a are consis
tent with the critical complex theory of mass accommodation, previously app
lied to the uptake of other gas-phase species by aqueous surfaces. Experime
nts with D2O(g) on liquid water show that D-H isotope exchange on the liqui
d surface proceeds with unit probability, independent of temperature. This
result implies that the thermal accommodation coefficient of H2O(g) on liqu
id water is I in the temperature range studied.