Synergistic Uptake by Acidic Sulfate Particles of Gaseous Mixtures of Glyoxal and Pinanediol

Yiming Qin, Jianhuai Ye, Paul E. Ohno, Yali Lei, Junfeng Wang, Pengfei Liu, Regan J. Thomson, Scot T. Martin*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

The uptake of gaseous organic species by atmospheric particles can be affected by the reactive interactions among multiple co-condensing species, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understand. Here, the uptake of unary and binary mixtures of glyoxal and pinanediol by neutral and acidic sulfate particles is investigated. These species are important products from the oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) under atmospheric conditions. The uptake to acidic aerosol particles greatly increased for a binary mixture of glyoxal and pinanediol compared to the unary counterparts. The strength of the synergism depended on the particle acidity and water content (i.e., relative humidity). The greater uptake was up to 2.5× to 8× at 10% relative humidity (RH) for glyoxal and pinanediol, respectively. At 50% RH, it was 2× and 1.2× for the two species. Possible mechanisms of acid-catalyzed cross reactions between the species are proposed to explain the synergistic uptake. The proposed mechanisms are applicable to a broader extent across atmospheric species having carbonyl and hydroxyl functionalities. The results thus suggest that synergistic uptake reactions can be expected to significantly influence the gas-particle partitioning of VOC oxidation products under atmospheric conditions and thus greatly affect their atmospheric transport and lifetime.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)11762-11770
Number of pages9
JournalEnvironmental Science and Technology
Volume54
Issue number19
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 6 2020

Funding

This work was funded by the USA National Science Foundation (Grants AGS-1640378 and CHE-1607640).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Environmental Chemistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Synergistic Uptake by Acidic Sulfate Particles of Gaseous Mixtures of Glyoxal and Pinanediol'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this