research overview
- Vaida’s current research interests are at the interfaces of chemical physics and environmental research using fundamental techniques and concepts of physical chemistry to investigate the spectroscopy and reactivity of environmentally relevant molecules. Water-air interfaces are present in the atmosphere at the ocean surface and on atmospheric aerosols, which are important in climate, atmospheric chemistry and human health. Vaida proposed that organic films on atmospheric aerosols and impart on the system unique morphological, optical and chemical properties and proposed that atmospheric aerosols can be effective chemical reactors in the contemporary and prebiotic atmosphere as well as indoor environments. The Vaida research program is fundamental in its conception and nature and relevant to a central problem on the planet: that of energy supply to a large population while maintaining a viable gaseous envelope, the atmosphere.
