Organic Chemistry at the Sulfuric Acid-Vapor Interface

University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

This research project, supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, addresses the question of the reactivity of organic molecules with the surface of liquid sulfuric acid solutions. Instrumentation is developed that allows the study of surface reaction, diffusion and bulk partitioning of reactant products, and identification of desorbed product species, under conditions relevant to atmospheric acid aerosol chemistry. Kinetics and mechanisms of these organic molecule reactions as a function of surface temperature, water vapor pressure, acid composition, and organic reactant flux are examined. A basic understanding of the physical chemistry of gas-liquid interactions, and tropospheric aerosol chemistry is the outcome of this project carried out in the laboratory of Professor Jeffrey Roberts at the University of Minnesota. Very little is known about the mechanisms and kinetics of gas-liquid surface reactions. This research project addresses the kinetics and mechanisms of organic molecule reactions with the surface of sulfuric acid liquids, using an apparatus directly developed for these studies. The results of these investigations are relevant to an understanding of tropospheric aerosol chemistry.