Abstract
Recently the oxidation of sulphur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere to form sulphuric acid has become an important research area related to the formation of acid rain and subsequent damage to sensitive ecosystems. Mechanisms leading to the formation of sulphuric acid include both homogeneous gas-phase reactions and multi-phase processes occurring in cloud and rain water1. Laboratory and theoretical studies have demonstrated the importance of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in oxidizing SO2 to sulphate2–4. Recent advances in analytical techniques5,6 have enabled data to be collected under ambient conditions. These show that an anti-correlation often exists between the simultaneous gas-phase SO2 and the liquid-phase H2O2 concentrations, suggesting that a reaction occurs between SO2 and H2O2 (refs 7–9). Here we report measurements that allow estimation of a field-derived rate constant for the reaction of SO2 with H2O2 in cloud water. These estimates are significantly higher than those derived from laboratory experiments.
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