September 22, 2022
Journal Article

Monoterpene photooxidation in a continuous-flow chamber: SOA yields and impacts of oxidants, NOx, and VOC precursors

Abstract

Monoterpene photooxidation plays an important role in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation in the atmosphere. The low-volatility products can enhance new particle formation and particle growth, and thus have influences on climate feedbacks. Here, we present the results of ?-pinene and ?-3-carene photooxidation experiments conducted in continuous-flow mode in an environmental chamber under several reaction conditions. The roles of oxidants, addition of NO, and VOC molecular structure in influencing SOA yield are illustrated. SOA yield from ?-pinene photooxidation shows a weak dependence on H2O2 concentration, which is a proxy for HO2 concentration. The high O:C ratios observed in the a-pinene photooxidation products suggest the production of highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOM). Addition of ozone to the chamber during low-NOx photooxidation experiments leads to higher SOA yield. With the addition of NO, the production of N-containing HOMs is enhanced and the SOA yield shows a modest, non-linear dependence on input NO concentration. Carene photooxidation leads to higher SOA yield than ?-pinene under similar reaction conditions, which agrees with the lower volatility retrieved from evaporation kinetics experiments. These results improve the understanding of SOA formation from monoterpene photooxidation and could be applied to refine the representation of biogenic SOA formation in models.

Published: September 22, 2022

Citation

Liu J., E. D'Ambro, B.H. Lee, S. Schobesberger, D.M. Bell, R.A. Zaveri, and A. Zelenyuk-Imre, et al. 2022. Monoterpene photooxidation in a continuous-flow chamber: SOA yields and impacts of oxidants, NOx, and VOC precursors. Environmental Science & Technology 56, no. 17:12066–12076. PNNL-SA-176021. doi:10.1021/acs.est.2c02630

Research topics