Model Simulations and Experimental Study of Acetic Acid Adsorption on Ice Surfaces with Coupled Ice-Bulk Diffusion at Temperatures Around 200 K

A kinetic and thermodynamic multi-phase model has been developed to describe the adsorption of gases on ice surfaces and their subsequent diffusional loss into the bulk ice phase. This model comprises a gas phase, a solid surface, a sub-surface layer, and the ice bulk. The processes represented include gas adsorption on the surface, solvation into the sub-surface layer, and diffusion in the ice bulk. It is assumed that the gases dissolve according to Henry’s law, while the surface concentration follows the Langmuir adsorption equilibrium. The flux of molecules from the sub-surface layer into the ice bulk is treated according to Fick’s second law. Kinetic and thermodynamic quantities as applicable to the uptake of small carbonyl compounds on ice surfaces at temperatures around 200 K have been used to perform model calculations and corresponding sensitivity tests. The primary application in this study is acetic acid. The model simulations are applied by fitting the experimental data obtained from coated-wall flow-systems (CWFT) measurements, with the best curve-fit solutions providing reliable estimations of kinetic parameters. Over the temperature range from 190 to 220 K, the estimated desorption coefficient, kdes, varies from 0.02 to 1.35 s−1, while adsorption rate coefficient, kads, ranges from 3.92 and 4.17 × 10−13 cm3 s−1, and the estimated diffusion coefficient, D, changes by more than two orders of magnitude, increasing from 0.03 to 13.0 × 10−8 cm2 s−1. Sensitivity analyses confirm that this parameter estimation approach is robust and consistent with underlying physicochemical processes. It is shown that for shorter exposure times the loss of molecules from the gas phase is caused exclusively by adsorption onto the surface and solvation into the sub-surface layer. Diffusional loss into the bulk, on the other hand, is only important at longer exposure times. The model is a useful tool for elucidating surface and bulk process kinetic parameters, such as adsorption and desorption rate constants, solution and segregation rates, and diffusion coefficients, as well as the estimation of thermodynamic quantities, such as Langmuir and Henry constants and the ice film thickness.