Dissociative Recombination of FeO(+) with Electrons: Implications for Plasma Layers in the Ionosphere

Insights into the Chemistry of Iodine New Particle Formation: The Role of Iodine Oxides and the Source of Iodic Acid

Iodine chemistry is an important driver of new particle formation in the marine and polar boundary layers. There are, however, conflicting views about how iodine gas-to-particle conversion proceeds. Laboratory studies indicate that the photooxidation of iodine produces iodine oxides (I_xO_y), which are well-known particle precursors. By contrast, nitrate anion chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) observations in field and environmental chamber studies have been interpreted as evidence of a dominant role of iodic acid (HIO₃) in iodine-driven particle formation. Here, we report flow tube laboratory experiments that solve these discrepancies by showing that both I_xO_y and HIO₃ are involved in atmospheric new particle formation. I₂O_y molecules (y = 2, 3, and 4) react with nitrate core ions to generate mass spectra similar to those obtained by CIMS, including the iodate anion. Iodine pentoxide (I₂O₅) produced by photolysis of higher-order I_xO_y is hydrolyzed, likely by the water dimer, to yield HIO₃, which also contributes to the iodate anion signal. We estimate that ∼50% of the iodate anion signals observed by nitrate CIMS under atmospheric water vapor concentrations originate from I₂O_y. Under such conditions, iodine-containing clusters and particles are formed by aggregation of I₂O_y and HIO₃, while under dry laboratory conditions, particle formation is driven exclusively by I₂O_y. An updated mechanism for iodine gas-to-particle conversion is provided. Furthermore, we propose that a key iodine reservoir species such as iodine nitrate, which we observe as a product of the reaction between iodine oxides and the nitrate anion, can also be detected by CIMS in the atmosphere.

A study of the reactions of Al+ ions with O3, N2, O2, CO2 and H2O: influence on Al+ chemistry in planetary ionospheres

The reactions between Al+(31S) and O3, O2, N2, CO2 and H2O were studied using the pulsed laser ablation at 532 nm of an aluminium metal target in a fast flow tube, with mass spectrometric detection of Al+ and AlO+. The rate coefficient for the reaction of Al+ with O3 is k(293 K) = (1.4 ± 0.1) × 10-9 cm3 molecule-1 s-1; the reaction proceeds at the ion-dipole enhanced Langevin capture frequency with a predicted T-0.16 dependence. For the recombination reactions, electronic structure theory calculations were combined with Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Markus theory to extrapolate the measured rate coefficients to the temperature and pressure conditions of planetary ionospheres. The following low-pressure limiting rate coefficients were obtained for T = 120-400 K and He bath gas (in cm6 molecule-2 s-1, uncertainty ±σ at 180 K): log10(k, Al+ + N2) = -27.9739 + 0.05036 log10(T) - 0.60987(log10(T))2, σ = 12%; log10(k, Al+ + CO2) = -33.6387 + 7.0522 log10(T) - 2.1467(log10(T))2, σ =13%; log10(k, Al+ + H2O) = -24.7835 + 0.018833 log10(T) - 0.6436(log10(T))2, σ = 27%. The Al+ + O2 reaction was not observed, consistent with a D°(Al+-O2) bond strength of only 12 kJ mol-1. Two reactions of AlO+ were also studied: k(AlO+ + O3, 293 K) = (1.3 ± 0.6) × 10-9 cm3 molecule-1 s-1, with (63 ± 9)% forming Al+ as opposed to OAlO+; and k(AlO+ + H2O, 293 K) = (9 ± 4) × 10-10 cm3 molecule-1 s-1. The chemistry of Al+ in the ionospheres of Earth and Mars is then discussed.

Determining Rate Constants and Mechanisms for Sequential Reactions of Fe+ with Ozone at 500 K

We present rate constants and product branching ratios for the reactions of FeO_x⁺ (x = 0-4) with ozone at 500 K. Fe⁺ is observed to react with ozone at the collision rate to produce FeO⁺ + O₂. The FeO⁺ in turn reacts with ozone at the collision rate to yield both Fe⁺ and FeO₂⁺ product channels. Ions up to FeO₄⁺ display similar reactivity patterns. Three-body clustering reactions with O₂ prevent us from measuring accurate rate constants at 300 K although the data do suggest that the efficiency is also high. Therefore, it is probable that little to no temperature dependence exists over this range. Implications of our measurements to the regulation of atmospheric iron and ozone are discussed. Density functional calculations on the reaction of Fe⁺ with ozone show no substantial kinetic barriers to make the FeO⁺ + O₂ product channel, which is consistent with the reaction's efficiency. While a pathway to make FeO₂⁺ + O is also found to be barrierless, our experiments indicate no primary FeO₂⁺ formation for this reaction.

A study of the dissociative recombination of CaO+ with electrons: Implications for Ca chemistry in the upper atmosphere

The dissociative recombination of CaO⁺ ions with electrons has been studied in a flowing afterglow reactor. CaO⁺ was generated by the pulsed laser ablation of a Ca target, followed by entrainment in an Ar⁺ ion/electron plasma. A kinetic model describing the gas-phase chemistry and diffusion to the reactor walls was fitted to the experimental data, yielding a rate coefficient of (3.0 ± 1.0) × 10^-7 cm³ molecule^-1 s^-1 at 295 K. This result has two atmospheric implications. First, the surprising observation that the Ca⁺/Fe⁺ ratio is ~8 times larger than Ca/Fe between 90 and 100 km in the atmosphere can now be explained quantitatively by the known ion-molecule chemistry of these two metals. Second, the rate of neutralization of Ca⁺ ions in a descending sporadic E layer is fast enough to explain the often explosive growth of sporadic neutral Ca layers.