Quantification of the role of stabilized Criegee intermediates in the formation of aerosols in limonene ozonolysis

Stabilized Criegee intermediates (SCIs) have the potential to oxidize trace species and to produce secondary organic aerosols (SOAs), making them important factors in tropospheric chemistry. This study quantitatively investigates the performance of SCIs in SOA formation at different relative humidity (RH) levels, and the first- and second-generation oxidations of endo- and exocyclic double bonds ozonated in limonene ozonolysis are studied separately. Through regulating SCI scavengers, the yields and rate constants of SCIs in a reaction system were derived, and the quantities of SCIs were calculated. The quantity of SOAs decreased by more than 20 % under low-humidity conditions (10 % RH–50 % RH), compared to that under dry conditions, due to the reactions of SCIs with water, while the inhibitory effect of water on SOA formation was not observed under high-humidity conditions (60 % RH–90 % RH). When using excessive SCI scavengers to exclude SCI reactions, it was found that the effect of water on SOA formation with the presence of SCIs was different from that without the presence of SCIs, suggesting that SCI reactions were relevant to the non-monotonic impact of water. The fractions of the SCI contribution to SOAs were similar between dry and high-humidity conditions, where the SCI reactions accounted for ∼ 63 % and ∼ 73 % in SOA formation in the first- and second-generation oxidation; however, marked differences in SOA formation mechanisms were observed. SOA formation showed a positive correlation with the quantity of SCIs, and the SOA formation potential of SCIs under high-humidity conditions was more significant than that under dry and low-humidity conditions. It was estimated that 20 %–30 % of SCIs could be converted into SOAs under high-humidity conditions, while this value decreased by nearly half under dry and low-humidity conditions. The typical contribution of limonene-derived SCIs to SOA formation is calculated to be (8.21 ± 0.15) × 10−2 µg m−3 h−1 in forest, (4.26 ± 0.46) × 10−2 µg m−3 h−1 in urban areas, and (2.52 ± 0.28) × 10−1 µg m−3 h−1 in indoor areas. Water is an uncertainty in the role SCIs play in SOA formation, and the contribution of SCIs to SOA formation needs consideration even under high RH in the atmosphere.

Quantification of the role of stabilized Criegee intermediates in the formation of aerosols in limonene ozonolysis

Stabilized Criegee intermediates (SCIs) have the potential to oxidize trace species and to produce secondary organic aerosols (SOA), making them important factors in tropospheric chemistry. This study quantitatively investigates the performance of SCIs in SOA formation at different relative humidity (RH), and the first- and second-generation oxidations of endo- and exo-cyclic double bonds ozonated in limonene ozonolysis are studied separately. Through regulating SCIs scavengers, the yields and rate constants of SCIs in reaction system were derived, and the amounts of SCIs were calculated. The amount of SOA decreased by more than 20 % under low-humidity conditions (10–50 % RH), compared to that under dry conditions due to the reactions of SCIs with water, while the inhibitory effect of water on SOA formation was not observed under high-humidity conditions (60–90 % RH). When using excessive SCIs scavengers to exclude SCIs reactions, it was found that the effect of water on SOA formation with the presence of SCIs was different from that without the presence of SCIs, suggesting that SCIs reactions were relevant to the non-monotonic impact of water. The fractions of SCIs contribution to SOA were similar between dry and high-humidity conditions, where the SCIs reactions accounted for ~ 63 % and ~ 73 % in SOA formation in the first- and second-generation oxidation, however, marked differences in SOA formation mechanisms were observed. SOA formation showed a positive correlation with the amount of SCIs, and the SOA formation potential of SCIs under high-humidity conditions was more significant than that under dry and low-humidity conditions. It was estimated that 20–30 % of SCIs could convert into SOA under high-humidity conditions, while this value decreased nearly by half under dry and low-humidity conditions. The contributions of limonene-derived SCIs to SOA in atmosphere were evaluated, and it was estimated that the contribution of SCIs to SOA was the lowest under low-humidity conditions. Under high-humidity conditions, the contribution of limonene-derived SCIs to SOA was (8.21 ± 0.15) × 10−2 μg m−3 h−1 in forest, (6.66 ± 0.12) × 10−2 μg m−3 h−1 in urban area, and (3.95 ± 0.72) × 10−1 μg m−3 h−1 in indoor area. Water was an uncertainty on the role of SCIs playing in SOA formation, and the contribution of SCIs to SOA formation needed consideration even under high RH in the atmosphere.

Effects of stabilized Criegee intermediates (sCIs) on sulfate formation: a sensitivity analysis during summertime in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH), China

Sulfate aerosols have profound impacts on the climate, ecosystem, visibility, and public health, but the sulfate formation pathway remains elusive. In the present study, a source-oriented WRF-Chem model is applied to simulate a persistent air pollution episode from 4 to 15 July 2015 in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH), China, to study the contributions of four pathways to sulfate formation. When comparing simulations to measurements in BTH, the index of agreement (IOA) of meteorological parameters, air pollutants, and aerosol species generally exceeds 0.6. On average in BTH, the heterogeneous reaction of SO2 involving aerosol water and the SO2 oxidation by OH constitutes the two most important sulfate sources, with a contribution of about 35 %–38 % and 33 %–36 %, respectively. Primary sulfate emissions account for around 22 %–24 % of the total sulfate concentration. SO2 oxidation by stabilized Criegee intermediates (sCIs) also plays an appreciable role in sulfate formation, with a contribution of around 9 % when an upper limit of the reaction rate constant of sCIs with SO2 (κsCI+SO2=3.9×10-11 cm3 s−1) and a lower limit of the reaction rate constant of sCIs with H2O (κsCI+H2O=1.97×10-18 cm3 s−1) are used. Sensitivity studies reveal that there are still large uncertainties in the sulfate contribution of SO2 oxidation by sCIs. The sulfate contribution of the reaction is decreased to less than 3 % when κSCI+SO2 is decreased to 6.0×10-13 cm3 s−1. Furthermore, when κsCI+H2O is increased to 2.38×10-15 cm3 s−1 based on the reported ratio of κSCI+H2O to κSCI+SO2 (6.1×10-5), the sulfate contribution becomes insignificant at less than 2 %. Further studies need to be conducted to better determine κsCI+SO2 and κsCI+H2O to evaluate the effects of sCI chemistry on sulfate formation.

Effects of stabilized Criegee Intermediates (sCI) on the sulfate formation: A case study during summertime in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), China

Sulfate aerosols exert profound impacts on climate, ecosystem, visibility, and public health, but the sulfate formation pathway remains elusive. In the present study, a source-oriented WRF-Chem model is applied to simulate a persistent air pollution episode from 04 to 15 July 2015 in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), China to study contributions of four pathways to the sulfate formation. When comparing simulations to measurements in BTH, the index of agreement (IOA) of meteorological parameters, air pollutants and aerosol species generally exceeds 0.6. On average in BTH, the heterogeneous reaction of SO2 involving aerosol water and the SO2 oxidation by OH constitutes the two most important sulfate sources, with a contribution of about 35 %–38 % and 33 %–36 % respectively. The primary emission accounts for around 22 %–24 % of sulfate concentrations due to high SO2 emissions. The SO2 oxidation by stabilized Criegee Intermediates (sCI) also plays an appreciable role in the sulfate formation, with a contribution of around 9 % when an upper limit of the reaction rate constant of sCI with SO2 (κsCI + SO2 = 3.9 × 10−11 cm3 s−1) and a lower limit of the reaction rate constant of sCI with H2O (κsCI + H2O = 1.97 × 10−18 cm3 s−1) are used. Sensitivity studies reveal that there still exist large uncertainties in the sulfate contribution of the SO2 oxidation by sCI. The sulfate contribution of the reaction is decreased to less than 3 % when κsCI + SO2 is decreased to 6.0 × 10−13 cm3 s−1. Furthermore, when κsCI + H2O is increased to 2.38 × 10−15 cm3 s−1 based on the reported ratio of κsCI + SO2 to κsCI + H2O (6.1 × 10−5), the sulfate contribution becomes insignificant, less than 2%. Further studies need to be conducted to better determine κsCI + SO2 and κsCI + H2O to evaluate effects of the sCI chemistry on the sulfate formation.