Solid Products of NO3 Uptake on Methane Soot

Abstract

A soot coating was treated with NO3 radicals using a flow reactor having a movable insert and coupled to a mass spectrometer for kinetic studies; the treatment was performed until the surface completely stopped to trap the radicals. The chromatographic and mass spectrometry analyses of the composition of the original methane soot and the solid products of its reaction with the gas-phase NO3 oxidant showed that the main products of this heterogeneous reaction were phthalic acid derivatives, paraffins, and acetophenones. The untreated soot contained arenes (up to four-membered aromatic molecules). The nitro compounds were not detected in the original soot and the products of its treatment with NO3 radicals.