Two-Pulse Laser Fragmentation/Laser-Induced Fluorescence of Organophosphate Aerosol

Abstract

The laser fragmentation/laser-induced fluorescence (LF/LIF) method is well known for its efficiency in detecting complex chemical compounds based on the fluorescence of their characteristic fragments. The method is applied, for example, to measuring the local content of nitrous acid and hydroxyl radicals in the atmosphere, visualization of intermediate stages of combustion processes, remote detection of substances in the gaseous state in the atmosphere and condensed state on surfaces, etc. We present for the first time the results of the experimental study of a possibility of remote excitation of LIF of characteristic photofragments of a substance in an aerosol state in the atmosphere. The organophosphorus compound triethyl phosphate (TEP) was used as the test substance. It has been shown that synchronized two-pulse laser irradiation of TEP aerosol particles and their PO-fragments (phosphorus oxide molecules) makes it possible to increase the efficiency of the LF/LIF process by approximately seven times compared to single-pulse laser exposure. It has been established that formation of PO-fragments of TEP aerosol under the laser irradiation at a wavelength of 266 nm has a decaying exponential character with a characteristic time of 192.6 ± 20.2 ns. In terms of the nature of the time dependence of the formation of photofragments, the results obtained are fundamentally different from similar measurements for other compounds in gaseous and condensed states and motivate further research that will contribute to the development of the LF/LIF method.