Dr. Fabian Mahrt

Mahrt_Fabian

Postdoc Fellow

Paul Scherrer Institut
Forschungsstrasse 111
5232 Villigen PSI
Schweiz

I am an experimental atmospheric scientist with a strong interest in aerosol particles. Aerosol particles - small particulate suspensions in air - are ubiquitous in the atmosphere. They contribute to air pollution and considerably affect human health. Aerosols also impact Earth’s energy budget, with aerosol-cloud interactions contributing the largest uncertainties in predicting the anthropogenic impacts for future climate.

My scientific interests revolve around investigating the chemical and microphysical properties of aerosol particles and to explore how these are linked to various atmospheric processes, as evident in my ongoing and past research: In my PhD studies I investigated aerosol-cloud interactions, with a focus on understanding the ice nucleation abilities of soot particles. In my PostDoc studies I am working on topics related to physical chemistry of aerosols, with a focus on exploring the phase behavior and phase transitions in organic aerosol particles.

Details can be found in the work linked below. Please reach out if you have questions or are interested to learn more.

 

  • Kiland KJ, Mahrt F, Peng L, Nikkho S, Zaks J, Crescenzo GV, et al.
    Viscosity, glass formation, and mixing times within secondary organic aerosol from biomass burning phenolics
    ACS Earth and Space Chemistry. 2023; 7(7): 1388-1400. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.3c00039
    DORA PSI
  • Kärcher B, Marcolli C, Mahrt F
    The role of mineral dust aerosol particles in aviation soot-cirrus interactions
    Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres. 2023; 128(3): e2022JD037881 (15 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JD037881
    DORA PSI
  • Mahrt F, Rosch C, Gao K, Dreimol CH, Zawadowicz MA, Kanji ZA
    Physicochemical properties of charcoal aerosols derived from biomass pyrolysis affect their ice-nucleating abilities at cirrus and mixed-phase cloud conditions
    Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 2023; 23(2): 1285-1308. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1285-2023
    DORA PSI
  • Baboomian VJ, Crescenzo GV, Huang Y, Mahrt F, Shiraiwa M, Bertram AK, et al.
    Sunlight can convert atmospheric aerosols into a glassy solid state and modify their environmental impacts
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America PNAS. 2022; 119(43): e2208121119 (10 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2208121119
    DORA PSI
  • Mahrt F, Peng L, Zaks J, Huang Y, Ohno PE, Smith NR, et al.
    Not all types of secondary organic aerosol mix: two phases observed when mixing different secondary organic aerosol types
    Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 2022; 22(20): 13783-13796. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13783-2022
    DORA PSI
  • Mahrt F, Huang Y, Zaks J, Devi A, Peng L, Ohno PE, et al.
    Phase behavior of internal mixtures of hydrocarbon-like primary organic aerosol and secondary aerosol based on their differences in oxygen-to-carbon ratios
    Environmental Science and Technology. 2022; 56(7): 3960-3973. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c07691
    DORA PSI
  • Ohno PE, Wang J, Mahrt F, Varelas JG, Aruffo E, Ye J, et al.
    Gas-Particle uptake and hygroscopic growth by organosulfate particles
    ACS Earth and Space Chemistry. 2022; 6(10): 2481-2490. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.2c00195
    DORA PSI
  • Xu S, Mahrt F, Gregson FKA, Bertram AK
    Possible effects of ozone chemistry on the phase behavior of skin oil and cooking oil films and particles indoors
    ACS Earth and Space Chemistry. 2022; 6(7): 1836-1845. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.2c00092
    DORA PSI
  • Garofalo LA, He Y, Jathar SH, Pierce JR, Fredrickson CD, Palm BB, et al.
    Heterogeneous nucleation drives particle size segregation in sequential ozone and nitrate radical oxidation of catechol
    Environmental Science and Technology. 2021; 55(23): 15637-15645. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c02984
    DORA PSI
  • Huang Y, Mahrt F, Xu S, Shiraiwa M, Zuend A, Bertram AK
    Coexistence of three liquid phases in individual atmospheric aerosol particles
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America PNAS. 2021; 118(16): e2102512118 (9 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2102512118
    DORA PSI
  • Kilchhofer K, Mahrt F, Kanji ZA
    The role of cloud processing for the ice nucleating ability of organic aerosol and coal fly ash particles
    Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres. 2021; 126(10): e2020JD033338 (21 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD033338
    DORA PSI
  • Kärcher B, Mahrt F, Marcolli C
    Process-oriented analysis of aircraft soot-cirrus interactions constrains the climate impact of aviation
    Communications Earth & Environment. 2021; 2(1): 113 (9 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00175-x
    DORA PSI
  • Mahrt F, Newman E, Huang Y, Ammann M, Bertram AK
    Phase behavior of hydrocarbon-like primary organic aerosol and secondary organic aerosol proxies based on their elemental oxygen-to-carbon ratio
    Environmental Science and Technology. 2021; 55(18): 12202-12214. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c02697
    DORA PSI
  • Marcolli C, Mahrt F, Kärcher B
    Soot PCF: pore condensation and freezing framework for soot aggregates
    Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 2021; 21(10): 7791-7843. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7791-2021
    DORA PSI