Molecular Characterization of Secondary Aerosol from Oxidation of Cyclic Methylsiloxanes

Cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS) have been identified as important gas-phase atmospheric contaminants, but knowledge of the molecular composition of secondary aerosol derived from cVMS oxidation is incomplete. Here, the chemical composition of secondary aerosol produced from the OH-initiated oxidation of decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5, C10H30O5Si5) is characterized by high performance mass spectrometry. ESI-MS reveals a large number of monomeric (300 < m/z < 470) and dimeric (700 < m/z < 870) oxidation products. With the aid of high resolution and MS/MS, it is shown that oxidation leads mainly to the substitution of a CH3 group by OH or CH2OH, and that a single molecule can undergo many CH3 group substitutions. Dimers also exhibit OH and CH2OH substitutions and can be linked by O, CH2, and CH2CH2 groups. GC-MS confirms the ESI-MS results. Oxidation of D4 (C8H24O4Si4) exhibits similar substitutions and oligomerizations to D5, though the degree of oxidation is greater under the same conditions and there is direct evidence for the formation of peroxy groups (CH2OOH) in addition to OH and CH2OH.

Silicon is a frequent component of atmospheric nanoparticles

Nanoparticles are the largest fraction of aerosol loading by number. Knowledge of the chemical components present in nanoparticulate matter is needed to understand nanoparticle health and climatic impacts. In this work, we present field measurements using the Nano Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (NAMS), which provides quantitative elemental composition of nanoparticles around 20 nm diameter. NAMS measurements indicate that the element silicon (Si) is a frequent component of nanoparticles. Nanoparticulate Si is most abundant in locations heavily impacted by anthropogenic activities. Wind direction correlations suggest the sources of Si are diffuse, and diurnal trends suggest nanoparticulate Si may result from photochemical processing of gas phase Si-containing compounds, such as cyclic siloxanes. Atmospheric modeling of oxidized cyclic siloxanes is consistent with a diffuse photochemical source of aerosol Si. More broadly, these observations indicate a previously overlooked anthropogenic source of nanoaerosol mass. Further investigation is needed to fully resolve its atmospheric role.

Quantitative assessment of the sulfuric acid contribution to new particle growth

The Nano Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (NAMS) was deployed to rural/coastal and urban sites to measure the composition of 20-25 nm diameter nanoparticles during new particle formation (NPF). NAMS provides a quantitative measure of the elemental composition of individual, size-selected nanoparticles. In both environments, particles analyzed during NPF were found to be enhanced in elements associated with inorganic species (nitrogen, sulfur) relative to that associated with organic species (carbon). A molecular apportionment algorithm was applied to the elemental data in order to place the elemental composition into a molecular context. These measurements show that sulfate constitutes a substantial fraction of total particle mass in both environments. The contribution of sulfuric acid to new particle growth was quantitatively determined and the gas-phase sulfuric acid concentration required to incorporate the measured sulfate fraction was calculated. The calculated values were compared to those calculated by a sulfuric acid proxy that considers solar radiation and SO(2) levels. The two values agree within experimental uncertainty. Sulfate accounts for 29-46% of the total mass growth of particles. Other species contributing to growth include ammonium, nitrate, and organics. For each location, the relative amounts of these species do not change significantly with growth rate. However, for the coastal location, sulfate contribution increases with increasing temperature whereas nitrate contribution decreases with increasing temperature.