Heterogeneous atmospheric reaction

We therefore first briefly discuss the analysis of systems that involve diffusion in the gas and liquid phases, uptake, and reaction in the bulk liquid or at the interface. Following that, we give a brief description of some of the most common methods used to measure mass accommodation coefficients and reaction kinetics for heterogeneous atmospheric reactions. Included are some new approaches that appear to be especially promising. For a review of this area, see Kolb et al. (1995, 1997). 

FIGURE 5.23 Schematic diagram of typical falling-droplet apparatus used for studying heterogeneous atmospheric reactions (adapted from Jayne et at., 1992). 

The reviews Toxicological Indications of the Organic Fraction of Aerosols A Chemist s View by Van Cauwenberghe and Van Vaeck (1983) and Atmospheric Reactions of PAH by Van Cauwenberghe (1985) provide critical assessments and extensive literature references of the status of research to 1985 in the complex area of heterogeneous photochemical reactions and of the interactions of PAHs on laboratory substrates, primary combustion particles, and ambient particulate matter with ozone and NOz in air. In the following sections, we briefly summarize results from this earlier era and address subsequent studies on heterogeneous atmospheric reactions of PAHs in simulated and real atmospheres. 

James N. Pitts, Jr., is a Research Chemist at the University of California, Irvine, and Professor Emeritus from the University of California, Riverside. He was Professor of Chemistry (1954-1988) and cofounder (1961) and Director of the Statewide Air Pollution Research Center (1970-1988) at the University of California, Riverside. His research has focused on the spectroscopy, kinetics, mechanisms, and photochemistry of species involved in a variety of homogeneous and heterogeneous atmospheric reactions, including those associated with the formation and fate of mutagenic and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic compounds. He is the author or coauthor of more than 300 research publications and three books Atmospheric Chemistry Fundamentals and Experimental Techniques, Graduate School in the Sciences—Entrance, Survival and Careers, and Photochemistry. He has been coeditor of two series, Advances in Environmental Science and Technology and Advances in Photochemistry. He served on a number of panels in California, the United States, and internationally. These included several National Academy of Science panels and service as Chair of the State of California s Scientific Review Panel for Toxic Air Contaminants and as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Acid Deposition. 

Theoretical and experimental studies of the interactions between water molecules and hydrogen chloride are of fundamental importance for the understanding of the production of stratospheric chlorine molecules which, in turn, take part in the catalytic ozone depletion reactions. This mainly heterogeneous atmospheric reaction begins with the adsorption of the HCl molecules on the surface of water icicles is the source of the stratospheric chlorine atoms in the polar regions380 - 382. Chlorine molecules are photolysed by solar radiation and the resultant chlorine atoms take part in the destruction of the stratospheric ozone. The study of the (H20) HC1 clusters is an important step towards understanding of the behavior of the HCl molecule on the ice surface383- 386. 

Particulate carbon as soot, carbon black, coke, and graphite originates from auto and truck exhausts, heating furnaces, incinerators, power plants, and steel and foimdry operations, and composes one of the more visible and troublesome particulate air pollutants. Because of its good adsorbent properties, carbon can be a carrier of gaseous and other particulate pollutants. Particulate carbon surfaces may catalyze some heterogeneous atmospheric reactions, including the important conversion of SO2 to sulfate. 

Recently was estimated an expected impact on the global chemistry of the atmosphere of the indirect heterogeneous photocatalytic reactions under the much more abundant near ultraviolet, visible and near infrared solar light [2]. As photocatalysts may serve atmospheric aerosols, i.e. ultrasmall solid particles that sometimes are embedded into liquid droplets. Aerosols are known to contain Ti02, Fc203, ZnO and other natural oxides, as well as metal sulfides of volcanic or antropogenic origin, that may serve as semiconductor photocatalysts (see Fig.5). Aerosols are known to be concentrated mainly in the air layers near the surface of the Earth, i.e. in the troposphere, rather than stratosphere. 

Abstract Heterogeneous chemical reactions at the surface of ice and other stratospheric aerosols are now appreciated to play a critical role in atmospheric ozone depletion. A brief summary of our theoretical work on the reaction of chlorine nitrate and hydrogen chloride on ice is given to highlight the characteristics of such heterogeneous mechanisms and to emphasize the special challenges involved in the realistic theoretical treatment of such reactions. 

The discovery of the Ozone Hole in the Antarctic stratosphere has led to the realization that previously unsuspected heterogeneous chemical reactions occuring on the surface of ice and other stratospheric cloud particles play a critical role in atmospheric ozone depletion — not only in the Antarctic stratosphere,... 

Because of the gaseous nature of many of the important primary and secondary pollutants, the emphasis in kinetic studies of atmospheric reactions historically has been on gas-phase systems. However, it is now clear that reactions that occur in the liquid phase and on the surfaces of solids and liquids play important roles in such problems as stratospheric ozone depletion (Chapters 12 and 13), acid rain, and fogs (Chapters 7 and 8) and in the growth and properties of aerosol particles (Chapter 9). We therefore briefly discuss reaction kinetics in solution in this section and heterogeneous kinetics in Section E. 

Related to the uptake and reaction of N02 into liquid water and at the interface is a so-called heterogeneous dark reaction of gaseous N02 with water vapor to form nitrous acid, HONO. Potential formation processes and reactions of HONO in the atmosphere have been reviewed by Lammel and Cape (1996). This is a fascinating reaction in that, despite decades of research, the mechanism is still not understood. It occurs on a variety of surfaces, including water and acid surfaces (e.g., Kleffmann et al., 1998) and, as discussed in this chapter, on soot as well. 

Overall, while the combinations of substrate effects, ambient NOz levels, and other gas-particle phenomena preclude a definitive answer, the formation of significant amounts of nitroarenes in heterogeneous particle-phase N02-PAH, atmospheric reactions seems unlikely, e.g., much slower than photooxidation or ozonolysis. This conclusion also applies to heterogeneous reactions of N205 with particle-bound PAHs on diesel and wood soot (Kamens and co-workers, 1990 see also Pitts et al., 1985c, 1985d, 1985e). 

As we have seen, key nitroarenes found in extracts of ambient particulate matter are 1-nitropyrene (1-N02-Py), predominant in primary combustion emissions, and 2-nitrofluoranthene and 2-nitropyrene, major products of gas-phase atmospheric reactions. Here we focus simply on their atmospheric fates as particle-bound species participating in heterogeneous decay processes. Formation of such nitro-PAHs in gas-phase reactions is addressed in Section F. 

Rossi, M.J. (1996) Atmospheric pollution the role of heterogeneous chemical reactions , Chimia, SO, 199-208. 

Jang, M.S., Czoschke, N.M., Lee, S. and Kamens, R.M. (2002) Heterogeneous atmospheric aerosol production by add-catalyzed particle-phase reactions. Science, 298 (5594), 814-17. 

Optimization of heterogeneously catalyzed reactions. Compound A, which can be mixed in B with other components, runs over the catalyst heated in C to the optimum temperature determined by continuously recording the PE spectra of the gas mixture (cf. e.g. References 11, 18 and 19). Using capillary D, the reaction may be carried out at atmospheric pressure, side-tracking a negligible amount at 10-2 mbar pressure for analysis into the PE spectrometer. The reaction products are either analyzed PE spectroscopically... 

In this overview and review of tropospheric photochemistry, we will examine a limited set of important homogeneous and heterogeneous photochemical reactions of relevance in the troposphere (Table 1). An expanded array of photochemical reactions is considered viable in the upper atmosphere (e.g., stratosphere) due to exposure to actinic radiation at wavelengths below 290 nm. A brief summary of a limited subset of this array of possible photochemical reactions will be provided in this review. 

There has been recent interest in a somewhat different aspect of adsorption and reaction on metal oxides photocatalysis. The interest stems partially from that role that some transition-metal oxides can play in photochemical reactions in the atmosphere. Atmospheric aerosol particles can act as substrates to catalyze heterogeneous photochemical reactions in the troposphere. Most tropospheric aerosols are silicates, aluminosilicates and salts whose bandgaps are larger than the cutoff of solar radiation in the troposphere (about 4.3 eV) they are thus unable to participate directly in photoexcited reactions. However, transition-metal oxides that have much smaller bandgaps also occur as aerosols — the most prevalent ones are the oxides of iron and manganese — and these materials may thus undergo charge-transfer excitations (discussed above) in the pres-... 

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