Adsorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at the air-water interface and its role in atmospheric deposition by fog droplets

This review addresses the significance of air-water interfacial adsorption in the fate and transport of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in dispersed systems, such as fog droplets in the atmosphere and air bubbles in wastewater systems. The equilibrium (partition constants) and transport (mass accommodation coefficients) parameters in dispersed systems are discussed. Specific cases where the air-water interfacial adsorption makes a significant impact, such as uptake of naphthalene by fog droplets in a falling droplet reactor and of pyrene removal on air bubbles in a solvent sublation reactor, are discussed as illustrations. The consequence of the air-water interface in atmospheric wet deposition of PAHs by fog droplets is analyzed mathematically.