Aerosols

In this course, Aerosols, you will learn about the ubiquitous small particles found in air that are known as atmospheric aerosol particles. Aerosol particles are typically nanoscopic in scale and are a special category of colloids dispersed in gas that have significant environmental and health effects. They can also be generated for application in industry or medicine.

You will learn

• about the properties of these particles, where they come from, how they are formed and transformed in the earth’s atmosphere and how they can be generated in industrial applications. Aerosols represent a large fraction of the surface area available within the atmosphere, and those surfaces are quite often where important atmospheric chemistry and phase transitions occur.
• how you can count, measure, and quantify such particles and their environmental effects. In simple laboratory exercises you will use basic techniques to measure and characterize particles from the lab and from ambient air sampling.

This course is aimed at you if you are interested in developing an in-depth understanding of important physical and chemical processes relating to particles suspended in air, such as chemical reactions, nucleation, adsorption, diffusion, adhesion, cloud formation, light absorption and scattering. This course will also interest you if you are curious how aerosol science is linked to societal challenges such air pollution and climate change or if you want to learn about industrial applications such as nanotechnology and pharmaceutical drug delivery.
The course is given as a series of lectures, problem solving sessions and laboratory exercises, designed to provide you with a solid background for carrying out independent project work, for finding work or for pursuing further high-level studies within the field.
The course is taught in English.