| 1. |
- Mehra, Archit, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of the chemical composition of gas- and particle-phase products of aromatic oxidation
- 2020
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Ingår i: ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 20:16, s. 9783-9803
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are key anthropogenic pollutants emitted to the atmosphere and are important for both ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation in urban areas. Recent studies have indicated that aromatic hydrocarbons may follow previously unknown oxidation chemistry pathways, including autoxidation that can lead to the formation of highly oxidised products. In this study we evaluate the gas- and particle-phase ions measured by online mass spectrometry during the hydroxyl radical oxidation of substituted C-9-aromatic isomers (1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, propylbenzene and isopropylbenzene) and a substituted polyaromatic hydrocarbon (1-methylnaphthalene) under low- and medium-NO x conditions. A time-of-flight chemical ionisation mass spectrometer (ToF-CIMS) with iodide-anion ionisation was used with a filter inlet for gases and aerosols (FIGAERO) for the detection of products in the particle phase, while a Vocus protontransfer-reaction mass spectrometer (Vocus-PTR-MS) was used for the detection of products in the gas phase. The signal of product ions observed in the mass spectra were compared for the different precursors and experimental conditions. The majority of mass spectral product signal in both the gas and particle phases comes from ions which are common to all precursors, though signal distributions are distinct for different VOCs. Gas- and particle-phase composition are distinct from one another. Ions corresponding to products contained in the near-explicit gas phase Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM version 3.3.1) are utilised as a benchmark of current scientific understanding, and a comparison of these with observations shows that the MCM is missing a range of highly oxidised products from its mechanism. In the particle phase, the bulk of the product signal from all precursors comes from ring scission ions, a large proportion of which are more oxidised than previously reported and have undergone further oxidation to form highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs). Under the perturbation of OH oxidation with increased NOx, the contribution of HOM-ion signals to the particle-phase signal remains elevated for more substituted aromatic precursors. Up to 43% of product signal comes from ring-retaining ions including HOMs; this is most important for the more substituted aromatics. Unique products are a minor component in these systems, and many of the dominant ions have ion formulae concurrent with other systems, highlighting the challenges in utilising marker ions for SOA.
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| 2. |
- Buchholz, Angela, et al.
(författare)
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Insights into the O : C-dependent mechanisms controlling the evaporation of alpha-pinene secondary organic aerosol particles
- 2019
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Ingår i: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 19:6, s. 4061-4073
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The volatility of oxidation products of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere is a key factor to determine if they partition into the particle phase contributing to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) mass. Thus, linking volatility and measured particle composition will provide insights into SOA formation and its fate in the atmosphere. We produced alpha-pinene SOA with three different oxidation levels (characterized by average oxygen-to-carbon ratio; (O:C) over bar = 0.53, 0.69, and 0.96) in an oxidation flow reactor. We investigated the particle volatility by isothermal evaporation in clean air as a function of relative humidity (RH < 2 %, 40 %, and 80 %) and used a filter-based thermal desorption method to gain volatility and chemical composition information. We observed reduced particle evaporation for particles with increasing <(O:C )over bar> ratio, indicating that particles become more resilient to evaporation with oxidative aging. Particle evaporation was increased in the presence of water vapour and presumably particulate water; at the same time the resistance of the residual particles to thermal desorption was increased as well. For SOA with (O:C ) over bar = 0.96, the unexpectedly large increase in mean thermal desorption temperature and changes in the thermogram shapes under wet conditions (80 % RH) were an indication of aqueous phase chemistry. For the lower (O:C ) over bar cases, some water-induced composition changes were observed. However, the enhanced evaporation under wet conditions could be explained by the reduction in particle viscosity from the semi-solid to liquid-like range, and the observed higher desorption temperature of the residual particles is a direct consequence of the increased removal of high-volatility and the continued presence of low-volatility compounds.
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| 3. |
- Pajunoja, Aki, et al.
(författare)
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Adsorptive uptake of water by semisolid secondary organic aerosols
- 2015
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Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 42:8, s. 3063-3068
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aerosol climate effects are intimately tied to interactions with water. Here we combine hygroscopicity measurements with direct observations about the phase of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles to show that water uptake by slightly oxygenated SOA is an adsorption-dominated process under subsaturated conditions, where low solubility inhibits water uptake until the humidity is high enough for dissolution to occur. This reconciles reported discrepancies in previous hygroscopicity closure studies. We demonstrate that the difference in SOA hygroscopic behavior in subsaturated and supersaturated conditions can lead to an effect up to about 30% in the direct aerosol forcinghighlighting the need to implement correct descriptions of these processes in atmospheric models. Obtaining closure across the water saturation point is therefore a critical issue for accurate climate modeling.
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