Credit: Image courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Scientists are learning more about the chemical interaction mechanisms that may be responsible for the high amount of sugar-like material found in sea spray. Sea spray is produced from ocean bubbles that burst and launch the tiny sugar-like particle hitchhikers into the atmosphere. In this image, the cubes are positively charged saccharides (sugar-like molecules) and the purple structures are negatively charged fatty acids (oily molecules) floating on the surface of water (the ocean). The saccharides adsorb (stick) to the bottom of a layer of fatty acids that coat the water surface.