Knudsen cell and smog chamber study of the heterogeneous uptake of sulfur dioxide on Chinese mineral dust

Distinct Temperature Trends in the Uptake of Gaseous n-Butylamine on Two Solid Diacids

Uptake coefficients of n-butylamine (BA) on solid succinic (SA) and glutaric acids (GA) from 298 to 177 K were measured using a newly combined Knudsen cell temperature-programmed desorption apparatus. The uptake coefficients on SA increase monotonically from (1.9 ± 0.5) × 10-4 at 298 K to 0.14 ± 0.05 at 177 K (errors represent 2σ statistical errors, overall errors are estimated to be ±60%). This is consistent with a surface reaction mechanism to form solid aminium carboxylate. In contrast, the uptake coefficients on GA increase from 0.11 ± 0.04 at 298 K to 0.25 ± 0.04 at 248 K but then decrease to 0.030 ± 0.010 at 177 K. This unusual trend in temperature dependence of the uptake coefficient is due to formation of an ionic liquid (IL) layer upon the surface reaction of BA with GA, leading to a competition between the rate of desorption of BA and the rates of diffusion and reaction within the IL. Overall, the kinetic multi-layer model of aerosol surface and bulk chemistry (KM-SUB) satisfactorily reproduces these unique trends. This work provides mechanistic insight and predictive capability for the temperature-dependence of reactive uptake processes involving multiple phase changes upon surface reaction.

Multiphase Oxidation of Sulfur Dioxide in Aerosol Particles: Implications for Sulfate Formation in Polluted Environments

Atmospheric oxidation of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) forms sulfate-containing aerosol particles that impact air quality, climate, and human and ecosystem health. It is well-known that in-cloud oxidation of SO₂ frequently dominates over gas-phase oxidation on regional and global scales. Multiphase oxidation involving aerosol particles, fog, and cloud droplets has been generally thought to scale with liquid water content (LWC) so multiphase oxidation would be negligible for aerosol particles due to their low aerosol LWC. However, recent field evidence, particularly from East Asia, shows that fast sulfate formation prevails in cloud-free environments that are characterized by high aerosol loadings. By assuming that the kinetics of cloud water chemistry prevails for aerosol particles, most atmospheric models do not capture this phenomenon. Therefore, the field of aerosol SO₂ multiphase chemistry has blossomed in the past decade, with many oxidation processes proposed to bridge the difference between modeled and observed sulfate mass loadings. This review summarizes recent advances in the fundamental understanding of the aerosol multiphase oxidation of SO₂, with a focus on environmental conditions that affect the oxidation rate, experimental challenges, mechanisms and kinetics results for individual reaction pathways, and future research directions. Compared to dilute cloud water conditions, this paper highlights the differences that arise at the molecular level with the extremely high solute strengths present in aerosol particles.

Shining New Light on the Kinetics of Water Uptake by Organic Aerosol Particles

The uptake of water vapor by various organic aerosols is important in a number of applications ranging from medical delivery of pharmaceutical aerosols to cloud formation in the atmosphere. The coefficient that describes the probability that the impinging gas-phase molecule sticks to the surface of interest is called the mass accommodation coefficient, α_M. Despite the importance of this coefficient for the description of water uptake kinetics, accurate values are still lacking for many systems. In this Feature Article, we present various experimental techniques that have been evoked in the literature to study the interfacial transport of water and discuss the corresponding strengths and limitations. This includes our recently developed technique called photothermal single-particle spectroscopy (PSPS). The PSPS technique allows for a retrieval of α_M values from three independent, yet simultaneous measurements operating close to equilibrium, providing a robust assessment of interfacial mass transport. We review the currently available data for α_M for water on various organics and discuss the few studies that address the temperature and relative humidity dependence of α_M for water on organics. The knowledge of the latter, for example, is crucial to assess the water uptake kinetics of organic aerosols in the Earth's atmosphere. Finally, we argue that PSPS might also be a viable method to better restrict the α_M value for water on liquid water.

The influence of temperature on the heterogeneous uptake of SO2 on hematite particles

Despite the increased awareness of heterogeneous reactions of SO₂ on mineral particles, the knowledge of how temperature influences the product species and kinetic parameters remain a crucially important part in atmospheric research. Here, we reported the formation of sulfur-containing species on hematite particles under various temperature and humidity conditions by mean of in-situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and ion chromatography (IC). High temperature is helpful in the ionization of H₂SO₃, making sulfite compounds occupy a great share among total products. The whole reaction could be divided into three stages according to the formation rate of hydroxyl groups. High temperature brings about more activated SO₂ and then results in the increased uptake coefficients with increasing temperature in the initial reaction stage. On the contrary, moisture absorption on particles is inhibited by high temperature, leading to the decreased uptake coefficients with increasing temperature in the latter two stages. Observed enthalpy and entropy, as well as activation energy values for relevant reactions were calculated. Overall, the product specie and reaction rate vary with temperature and humidity conditions, as well as reaction stages. This work broadens the knowledge of heterogeneous reactions on mineral dust influenced by temperature, and consequently provides important opportunities for atmospheric model improvements.

Temperature dependence of the heterogeneous uptake of acrylic acid on Arizona test dust

In this study, the temperature dependence of the heterogeneous uptake of acrylic acid on Arizona test dust (ATD) has been investigated within a temperature range of 255-315K using a Knudsen cell reactor. Combined with diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) experiment, it was found that acrylic acid could adsorb on ATD via surface OH groups and convert to carboxylate on the particle surface. The kinetics study suggests that the initial true uptake coefficient (γ_t) of acrylic acid on ATD decreases from (4.02±0.12)×10^-5 to (1.73±0.05)×10^-5 with a temperature increase from 255 to 315K. According to the temperature dependence of uptake coefficients, the enthalpy (ΔH_obs) and entropy (ΔS_obs) of uptake processes were determined to be -(9.60±0.38) KJ/mol and -(121.55±1.33) J·K/mol, respectively. The activation energy for desorption (E_des) was calculated to be (14.57±0.60) KJ/mol. These results indicated that the heterogeneous uptake of acrylic acid on ATD surface was sensitive to temperature. The heterogeneous uptake on ATD could affect the concentration of acrylic acid in the atmosphere, especially at low temperature.

Mechanism and Kinetics of Heterogeneous Reactions of Unsaturated Organic Acids on α-Al2 O3 and CaCO3

Heterogeneous reactions have a vital role in the atmosphere due to their significant effects on the evolution of atmospheric aerosols, which in turn contribute to air pollution. However, the mechanism and kinetics of these processes involving unsaturated organic acids, important types of volatile organic compounds, are still unclear. In this work, the heterogeneous uptake of two representative atmospheric unsaturated organic acids (acrylic acid and methacrylic acid) on mineral aerosols including α-Al₂ O₃ and CaCO₃ are investigated using a Knudsen cell reactor and an in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectrometry (DRIFTS) reactor. The corresponding reaction pathways are proposed from the DRIFTS analysis. In addition, the initial uptake coefficients of unsaturated organic acids and their heterogeneous fate are obtained for the first time. Our results suggest that heterogeneous reactions on α-Al₂ O₃ and CaCO₃ can be important sinks for acrylic acid and methacrylic acid, as well as possible contributors to the organic coating found on atmospheric aerosols, especially in high-pollution events.

Heterogeneous uptake of nitrogen dioxide on Chinese mineral dust

Mineral dust is one of the major aerosols in the atmosphere. To assess its impact on trace atmospheric gases, in this work we present a laboratory study of the effect of temperature on the heterogeneous reaction of NO2 on the surface of ambient Chinese dust over the temperature range from 258 to 313K. The results suggest that nitrogen dioxide could mainly be adsorbed on these types of Chinese mineral dust reversibly with little temperature dependence. Similar to a previous study on NO2 uptake on mineral aerosols, the uptake coefficients are mainly on the order of 10(-6) for the Chinese dust, when BET areas are taken into account. HONO was observed as a product, and its formation and decomposition on Chinese mineral dust during the uptake processes were also studied. The complete dataset from this study was compiled with previous literature determinations. Atmospheric implications of the heterogeneous reaction between NO2 and mineral dust are also discussed, in an effort to understand this important heterogeneous process.

Kinetics of Heterogeneous Reaction of Sulfur Dioxide on Authentic Mineral Dust: Effects of Relative Humidity and Hydrogen Peroxide

Heterogeneous reaction of SO2 on mineral dust seems to be an important sink for SO2. However, kinetic data about this reaction on authentic mineral dust are scarce and are mainly limited to low relative humidity (RH) conditions. In addition, little is known about the role of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in this reaction. Here, we investigated the uptake kinetics of SO2 on three authentic mineral dusts (i.e., Asian mineral dust (AMD), Tengger desert dust (TDD), and Arizona test dust (ATD)) in the absence and presence of H2O2 at different RHs using a filter-based flow reactor, and applied a parameter (effectiveness factor) to the estimation of the effective surface area of particles for the calculation of the corrected uptake coefficient (γc). We found that with increasing RH, the γc decreases on AMD particles, but increases on ATD and TDD particles. This discrepancy is probably due to the different mineralogy compositions and aging extents of these dust samples. Furthermore, the presence of H2O2 can promote the uptake of SO2 on mineral dust at different RHs. The probable explanations are that H2O2 rapidly reacts with SO2 on mineral dust in the presence of adsorbed water, and OH radicals, which can be produced from the heterogeneous decomposition of H2O2 on the mineral dust, immediately react with adsorbed SO2 as well. Our results suggest that the removal of SO2 via the heterogeneous reaction on mineral dust is an important sink for SO2 and has the potential to alter the physicochemical properties (e.g., ice nucleation ability) of mineral dust particles in the atmosphere.