Laboratory Studies of Heterogeneous Chemistry on Clays and Minerals Representative of Tropospheric Dust Aerosol

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

Laboratory studies of heterogeneous uptake and chemical reactions on model particles representing atmospheric dust will be carried out. The apparatus used will be a newly developed Knudsen cell flow reactor equipped with a mass spectrometer for monitoring gaseous reactants and a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer for detection of the condensed phase species. The experiments will be carried out at temperature and relative humidity conditions representative of the middle/upper troposphere. Specific reactions that will be studied as a function of relative humidity, temperature, particle mass and grain size include the hydrolysis of dinitrogen pentoxide (N205), the uptake of ozone, and the uptake and possible reaction of small organic molecules such as methanol. This work is important because it will provide direct measurements for processes long believed to be important in the atmosphere. Atmospheric aerosols affect the Earth's radiative budget and air quality.