| Abstract
| - Fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) have been suggested as possible precursors for perfluorinated carboxylicacids and have been detected in the troposphere over several North American sites. Although the gas-phasechemistry of several FTOHs has been extensively studied, the heterogeneous chemistry of these compoundshas yet to be explored at the same depth. In this study, the surface activity of 8−2 FTOH at the air−waterinterface was investigated using a Langmuir trough. Isotherms of both the pure telomer alcohol and equimolarmixtures with stearic acid were collected. The objective of these experiments was to characterize the pureand mixed films and understand their heterogeneous chemistry, which can be used as a representative modelfor that of organic films on atmospheric surfaces, such as those found on oceans and aqueous aerosols. Aconsequence of FTOHs partitioning to the air−water interface is the possibility of their transport and widespreaddistribution and deposition using atmospheric aerosols. Our results indicate that 8−2 FTOH evaporates rapidlyoff the subphase surface in the pure samples, but when mixed with stearic acid, the evaporation rate issignificantly reduced, indicating stabilization of the film. Atmospherically relevant consequences for 8−2FTOH partitioning to the air−water interface are discussed in detail.
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