Barbara D’Anna

Heterogeneous Photochemistry in the Atmosphere

Atmospheric aerosols can be categorized into primary particles, which are directly emitted by their sources, and secondary particles, generated in the atmosphere from gaseous inorganic and organic precursors. For example, atmospheric oxidation of sulfur containing compounds leads to sulfuric acid and its salts, which represent a major secondary inorganic component of atmospheric aerosols. Likewise, oxidation of nitrogen oxides leads to nitric acid or its salts, which are also abundant in aerosols. The ocean surface, which covers three-quarters of the planet, offers a remarkably dynamic and chemically complex surface for interfacial reactions in the marine boundary layer. The porous nature of permanent or perennial snowpacks adds a tremendous amount of surface area, with which the atmosphere interacts. In short, solar radiation can provide the energy to initiate reactions while atmospherically available surfaces or condensed phases may act to reduce the required energy for a given photochemical pathway, for instance, by allowing a longer wavelength for reaction of species associated with a surface or bulk phase environment.

Mineral dust photochemistry induces nucleation events in the presence of SO2

Large quantities of mineral dust particles are frequently ejected into the atmosphere through the action of wind. The surface of dust particles acts as a sink for many gases, such as sulfur dioxide. It is well known that under most conditions, sulfur dioxide reacts on dust particle surfaces, leading to the production of sulfate ions. In this report, for specific atmospheric conditions, we provide evidence for an alternate pathway in which a series of reactions under solar UV light produces first gaseous sulfuric acid as an intermediate product before surface-bound sulfate. Metal oxides present in mineral dust act as atmospheric photocatalysts promoting the formation of gaseous OH radicals, which initiate the conversion of SO2 to H2SO4 in the vicinity of dust particles. Under low dust conditions, this process may lead to nucleation events in the atmosphere. The laboratory findings are supported by recent field observations near Beijing, China, and Lyon, France.

Alternative pathway for atmospheric particles growth

Credible climate change predictions require reliable fundamental scientific knowledge of the underlying processes. Despite extensive observational data accumulated to date, atmospheric aerosols still pose key uncertainties in the understanding of Earth’s radiative balance due to direct interaction with radiation and because they modify clouds’ properties. Specifically, major gaps exist in the understanding of the physicochemical pathways that lead to aerosol growth in the atmosphere and to changes in their properties while in the atmosphere. Traditionally, the driving forces for particle growth are attributed to condensation of low vapor pressure species following atmospheric oxidation of volatile compounds by gaseous oxidants. The current study presents experimental evidence of an unaccounted-for new photoinduced pathway for particle growth. We show that heterogeneous reactions activated by light can lead to fast uptake of noncondensable Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) at the surface of particles when only traces of a photosensitizer are present in the seed aerosol. Under such conditions, size and mass increase; changes in the chemical composition of the aerosol are also observed upon exposure to volatile organic compounds such as terpenes and near-UV irradiation. Experimentally determined growth rate values match field observations, suggesting that this photochemical process can provide a new, unaccounted-for pathway for atmospheric particle growth and should be considered by models.

Interactions of ozone with organic surface films in the presence of simulated sunlight: impact on wettability of aerosols

Heterogeneous reactions between organic films, taken as proxies for atmospheric aerosols, with ozone in presence of simulated sunlight and the photosensitizer 4-carboxybenzophenone (4-CB) were observed to alter surface properties as monitored by contact angle during the reaction. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) was used in addition for product identification. Two types of model surfaces were systematically studied: 4-CB/4-phenoxyphenol and 4-CB/catechol. Solid organic films made of 4-CB/catechol were observed to become hydrophilic by simultaneous exposure to ozone and simulated sunlight, whereas organic films made of 4-CB/4-phenoxyphenol become hydrophobic under the same conditions. These changes in contact angle indicate that photo-induced aging processes involving ozone (such as oligomerisation) not necessarily favour increased hygroscopicity of organic aerosols in the atmosphere. The ratio between hydrophobic and hydrophilic functional groups should reflect the chemical property of organic films with respect to wettability phenomena. Contact angles and surface tensions of the exposed organic film made of 4-CB/4-phenoxyphenol were found to correspond to the hydrophobic/hydrophilic ratios obtained from the FTIR-ATR spectra.

Unravelling New Processes at Interfaces: Photochemical Isoprene Production at the Sea Surface

Isoprene is an important reactive gas that is produced mainly in terrestrial ecosystems but is also produced in marine ecosystems. In the marine environment, isoprene is produced in the seawater by various biological processes. Here, we show that photosensitized reactions involving the sea-surface microlayer lead to the production of significant amounts of isoprene. It is suggested that H-abstraction processes are initiated by photochemically excited dissolved organic matter which will the degrade fatty acids acting as surfactants. This chemical interfacial processing may represent a significant abiotic source of isoprene in the marine boundary layer.

Photosensitized production of functionalized and unsaturated organic compounds at the air-sea interface

The sea-surface microlayer (SML) has different physical, chemical and biological properties compared to the subsurface water, with an enrichment of organic matter i.e., dissolved organic matter including UV absorbing humic substances, fatty acids and many others. Here we present experimental evidence that dissolved organic matter, such as humic acids, when exposed to sunlight, can photosensitize the chemical conversion of linear saturated fatty acids at the air-water interface into unsaturated functionalized gas phase products (i.e. saturated and unsaturated aldehydes and acids, alkenes and dienes,…) which are known precursors of secondary organic aerosols. These functionalized molecules have previously been thought to be of biological origin, but here we demonstrate that abiotic interfacial photochemistry has the potential to produce such molecules. As the ocean is widely covered by the SML, this new understanding will impact on our ability to describe atmospheric chemistry in the marine environment.

Oxidation of atmospheric humic like substances by ozone: a kinetic and structural analysis approach.

This work explores the heterogeneous reaction between HUmic-LIke Substances (so-called HULIS) and ozone. Genuine atmospheric HULIS were extracted from aerosol samples collected in Chamonix (France) in winter and used in coated flow tube experiments to evaluate heterogeneous uptake of O₃ on such mixtures. The uptake coefficient (γ) was investigated as a function of pH (from 2.5 to 10), O₃ concentration (from 8 to 33 × 10¹¹ molecules cm⁻³), relative humidity (20 to 65%) and photon flux (from 0 to 1.66 × 10¹⁵ photons cm⁻² s⁻¹). Reactive uptake was found to increase in the irradiated experiment with pH, humidity and photon flux. The extract was characterized before and after exposure to O₃ and/or UV light in the attempt to elucidate the effect of the photochemical aging. Carbon content measurements, UV-vis spectroscopy and functional groups analysis revealed a decrease of the UV absorbance as well as of the carbon mass content, while the functionalization rate (COOH and C═O) and therefore the polarity increased during the simulated photochemical exposure.

Photoenhanced ozone loss on solid pyrene films

This work presents the results of two complementary studies of the heterogeneous reaction of gas-phase ozone with solid pyrene films. In the first study, ozone uptake by the pyrene film was determined using a coated-wall flow tube system. In the second, pyrene loss within the film upon exposure to ozone was monitored using a laser-induced fluorescence technique. The dependence of the reactive loss rate on ozone concentration observed in both methods suggests that the reaction proceeds via a Langmuir-Hinshelwood-type surface mechanism. At a mixing ratio of 50 ppb, the steady-state reactive uptake coefficient of ozone by pyrene films increased from 5.0x10(-6) in the dark to 3.7x10(-5) upon exposure to near-UV radiation (300-420 nm). The uptake coefficient increased linearly as a function of UV-A spectral irradiance and decreased markedly with increasing relative humidity. The loss of surface pyrene upon exposure to ozone also displayed a light enhancement: analysis of Langmuir-Hinshelwood plots for the light and dark reactions revealed a small increase in the two-dimensional reaction rate in the presence of light (lambda>or=295 nm). This modest enhancement, however, was less significant than the corresponding enhancement in the loss of gas-phase ozone. In order to explain these observations, we present an integrated mechanism whereby the light-enhanced ozone uptake arises from the reaction of ozone with O2(1Sigmag+) formed via energy transfer from excited-state pyrene and the enhanced pyrene loss occurs via the formation of a charge-transfer complex between excited-state pyrene and adsorbed ozone. The disparity between surface- and gas-phase results underscores the important role that multifaceted strategies can play in elucidating the mechanisms of heterogeneous atmospheric reactions.

Ozone Formation from Illuminated Titanium Dioxide Surfaces

The nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) decomposition on illuminated TiO(2) surfaces has been widely studied, but little is known about the subsequent formation of non-nitrogen containing products. In this study, TiO(2) coated glass surfaces and TiO(2) films with nitrate anions (either premixed with TiO(2) as KNO(3) or deposited from gaseous NO(x)) are irradiated with broad-band light. Upon irradiation, detected gas phase products include NO(2), HNO(2), and O(3). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reveals the production of O(3) from TiO(2) surfaces. By surface charge transfer reactions, nitrate anions are oxidized into nitrate radicals and their photochemistry (almost in the visible) leads to O(3) formation, enhancing the oxidizing power of these surfaces.

Emerging Areas in Atmospheric Photochemistry

Sunlight is a major driving force of atmospheric processes. A detailed knowledge of atmospheric photochemistry is therefore required in order to understand atmospheric chemistry and climate. Considerable progress has been made in this field in recent decades. This contribution will highlight a set of new and emerging ideas (and will therefore not provide a complete review of the field) mainly dealing with long wavelength photochemistry both in the gas phase and on a wide range of environmental surfaces. Besides this, some interesting bulk photochemistry processes are discussed. Altogether these processes have the potential to introduce new chemical pathways into tropospheric chemistry and may impact atmospheric radical formation.