The daytime oxidation of biogenic hydrocarbons is attributed to both OH radicals and O3, while nighttime chemistry is dominated by the reaction with O3 and NO3 radicals. Here, the diurnal pattern of Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA) originating from biogenic hydrocarbons was intensively evaluated under varying environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, sunlight intensity, NOx levels, and seed conditions) by using the UNIfied Partitioning Aerosol phase Reaction (UNIPAR) model, which comprises multiphase gas-particle partitioning and in-particle chemistry. The oxidized products of three different hydrocarbons (isoprene, α-pinene, and β-caryophyllene) were predicted by using near explicit gas mechanisms for four different oxidation paths (OH, O3, NO3, and O(3P)) during day and night. The gas mechanisms implemented the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM v3.3.1), the reactions that formed low volatility products via peroxy radical (RO2) autoxidation, and self- and cross-reactions of nitrate-origin RO2. In the model, oxygenated products were then classified into volatility-reactivity base lumping species, which were dynamically constructed under varying NOx levels and aging scales. To increase feasibility, the UNIPAR model that equipped mathematical equations for stoichiometric coefficients and physicochemical parameters of lumping species was integrated with the SAPRC gas mechanism. The predictability of the UNIPAR model was demonstrated by simulating chamber-generated SOA data under varying environments day and night. Overall, the SOA simulation decoupled to each oxidation path indicated that the nighttime isoprene SOA formation was dominated by the NO3-driven oxidation, regardless of NOx levels. However, the oxidation path to produce the nighttime α-pinene SOA gradually transited from the NO3-initiated reaction to ozonolysis as NOx levels decreased. For daytime SOA formation, both isoprene and α-pinene were dominated by the OH-radical initiated oxidation. The contribution of the O(3P) path to all biogenic SOA formation was negligible in daytime. Sunlight during daytime promotes the decomposition of oxidized products via photolysis and thus, reduces SOA yields. Nighttime α-pinene SOA yields were significantly higher than daytime SOA yields, although the nighttime α-pinene SOA yields gradually decreased with decreasing NOx levels. For isoprene, nighttime chemistry yielded higher SOA mass than daytime at the higher NOx level (isoprene/NOx > 5 ppbC/ppb). The daytime isoprene oxidation at the low NOx level formed epoxy-diols that significantly contributed SOA formation via heterogeneous chemistry. For isoprene and α-pinene, daytime SOA yields gradually increased with decreasing NOx levels. The daytime SOA produced more highly oxidized multifunctional products and thus, it was generally more sensitive to the aqueous reactions than the nighttime SOA. β-Caryophyllene, which rapidly oxidized and produced SOA with high yields, showed a relatively small variation in SOA yields from changes in environmental conditions (i.e., NOx levels, seed conditions, and diurnal pattern), and its SOA formation was mainly attributed to ozonolysis day and night. To mimic the nighttime α-pinene SOA formation under the polluted urban atmosphere, α-pinene SOA formation was simulated in the presence of gasoline fuel. The simulation suggested the growth of α-pinene SOA in the presence of gasoline fuel gas by the enhancement of the ozonolysis path under the excess amount of ozone, which is typical in urban air. We concluded that the oxidation of the biogenic hydrocarbon with O3 or NO3 radicals is a source to produce a sizable amount of nocturnal SOA, despite of the low emission at night.
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Secondary organic aerosol formation from camphene oxidation: measurements and modeling
Abstract. While camphene is one of the dominant monoterpenesmeasured in biogenic and pyrogenic emission samples, oxidation of camphenehas not been well-studied in environmental chambers and very little is knownabout its potential to form secondary organic aerosol (SOA). The lack ofchamber-derived SOA data for camphene may lead to significant uncertaintiesin predictions of SOA from oxidation of monoterpenes using existingparameterizations when camphene is a significant contributor to totalmonoterpenes. Therefore, to advance the understanding of camphene oxidationand SOA formation and to improve representation of camphene in air qualitymodels, a series of experiments was performed in the University ofCalifornia Riverside environmental chamber to explore camphene SOA massyields and properties across a range of chemical conditions atatmospherically relevant OH concentrations. The experimental results werecompared with modeling simulations obtained using two chemically detailedbox models: Statewide Air Pollution Research Center (SAPRC) and Generatorfor Explicit Chemistry and Kinetics of Organics in the Atmosphere (GECKO-A).SOA parameterizations were derived from the chamber data using both thetwo-product and volatility basis set (VBS) approaches. Experiments performedwith added nitrogen oxides (NOx) resulted in higher SOA mass yields (upto 64 %) than experiments performed without added NOx (up to 28 %).In addition, camphene SOA mass yields increased with SOA mass (Mo) atlower mass loadings, but a threshold was reached at higher mass loadings inwhich the SOA mass yields no longer increased with Mo. SAPRC modelingof the chamber studies suggested that the higher SOA mass yields at higherinitial NOx levels were primarily due to higher production of peroxyradicals (RO2) and the generation of highly oxygenated organicmolecules (HOMs) formed through unimolecular RO2 reactions. SAPRCpredicted that in the presence of NOx, camphene RO2 reacts with NOand the resultant RO2 undergoes hydrogen (H)-shift isomerizationreactions; as has been documented previously, such reactions rapidly addoxygen and lead to products with very low volatility (i.e., HOMs). The endproducts formed in the presence of NOx have significantly lowervolatilities, and higher O : C ratios, than those formed by initial campheneRO2 reacting with hydroperoxyl radicals (HO2) or other RO2.Further analysis reveals the existence of an extreme NOx regime, whereinthe SOA mass yield can be suppressed again due to high NO / HO2 ratios.Moreover, particle densities were found to decrease from 1.47 to 1.30 g cm−3 as [HC]0 / [NOx]0 increased and O : C decreased. Theobserved differences in SOA mass yields were largely explained by thegas-phase RO2 chemistry and the competition between RO2+HO2, RO2+ NO, RO2+ RO2, and RO2 autoxidationreactions.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1753364
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10422289
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
- Volume:
- 22
- Issue:
- 5
- ISSN:
- 1680-7324
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 3131 to 3147
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3131-2022
