Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from the OH Oxidation of Phenol, Catechol,...

Schueneman, M., D. A. Day, Z. Peng, D. Pagonis, O. J. Jenks, J. A. de Gouw, and J. Jimenez-Palacios (2024), Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from the OH Oxidation of Phenol, Catechol, Styrene, Furfural, and Methyl Furfural, Anal. Chem., 1179, 1179−1192, doi:10.1021/acsearthspacechem.3c00361.
Abstract: 

Wildfires are increasing in frequency and intensity, with increasing impacts on air

Downloaded via UNIV OF COLORADO BOULDER on July 11, 2024 at 23:18:42 (UTC). quality and climate. A main component of smoke is biomass-burning organic aerosol, BBOA, including both primary OA (POA) and secondary OA (SOA). Here, we provide wildfire-relevant SOA yields for the reactions of 5 BB volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that have been predicted to lead to substantial SOA formation (phenol, catechol, styrene, furfural, and methyl furfural). Reactions were conducted in a large Teflon chamber with OH under high-NO conditions. We focus specifically on providing SOA yields and volatility basis sets (VBSs) that can be applied to ambient data, including at high OA concentrations in large plumes. We introduce a new method for obtaining VBSs while accounting for Teflon environmental chamber wall effects and for changes in temperature during experiments. Vapor wall loss corrections increase SOA by ∼30% across different systems. The SOA from this work is estimated to evaporate faster upon dilution than POA. We also analyze mass spectra from particle-phase measurements, which confirm the presence of SOA species identified by other researchers, and report nitrocatechol mass yields for phenol (38%) and styrene (0.45%).

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Research Program: 
Tropospheric Composition Program (TCP)