Kinetic Studies of Heterogeneous Reaction of HO2 Radical by Dicarboxylic Acid Particles

Abstract

The HO2 uptake coefficients (γ) for organic submicron aerosol particles were measured using an aerosol flow tube coupled with a chemical conversion/laser-induced fluorescence technique under ambient conditions (760 Torr and 296 ± 2 K) and different values of relative humidity (RH) (28% and 68%). Determined uptake coefficients for succinic, glutaric, adipic, and pimelic acid aerosol particles at 28% RH were 0.07 ± 0.02, 0.07 ± 0.03, 0.02 ± 0.01, and 0.06 ± 0.03, respectively, whereas the γ values for those particles at 68% RH were 0.18 ± 0.07, 0.15 ± 0.04, 0.06 ± 0.01, and 0.13 ± 0.04, respectively. An increase in γ with increasing RH was observed for all the dicarboxylic acids, suggesting a contribution by water amount in the particle, aqueous phase chemistry, and uptake of HO2–H2O. The anomalously low γ values for adipic acid are likely related to its high crystallization RH and thus provide a new clue that the water amount and/or RH have a significant influence on HO2 uptake.