Nitryl chloride (ClNO2) plays an important role in the budget and distribution of tropospheric oxidants, halogens, and reactive nitrogen species. ClNO2is formed from the heterogeneous uptake and reaction of dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) on chloride‐containing aerosol, with a production yield,
We use observations from the 2015 Wintertime Investigation of Transport, Emissions, and Reactivity (WINTER) aircraft campaign to constrain the proposed mechanism of Cl2production from ClNO2reaction in acidic particles. To reproduce Cl2concentrations observed during WINTER with a chemical box model that includes ClNO2reactive uptake to form Cl2, the model required the ClNO2reaction probability, γ (ClNO2), to range from 6 × 10−6to 7 × 10−5, with a mean value of 2.3 × 10−5(±1.8 × 10−5). These field‐determined γ (ClNO2) are more than an order of magnitude lower than those determined in previous laboratory experiments on acidic surfaces, even when calculated particle pH is ≤2. We hypothesize this is because thick salt films in the laboratory enhanced the reactive uptake ClNO2compared to that which would occur in submicron aerosol particles. Using the reacto‐diffusive length‐scale framework, we show that the field and laboratory observations can be reconciled if the net aqueous‐phase reaction rate constant for ClNO2(aq) + Cl‐(aq) in acidic particles is on the order of 104s−1. We show that wet particle diameter and particulate chloride mass together explain 90% of the observed variance in the box model‐derived γ (ClNO2), implying that the availability of chloride and particle volume limit the efficiency of the reaction. Despite a much lower conversion of ClNO2into Cl2, this mechanism can still be responsible for the nocturnal formation of 10–20 pptv of Cl2in polluted regions, yielding an atmospherically relevant concentration of Cl atoms the following morning.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 1822664
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10453665
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
- Volume:
- 124
- Issue:
- 15
- ISSN:
- 2169-897X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 8851-8869
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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