SGER: Smog Chamber Investigations into Reactions of Tertiary Amines with NOy

Utah State University, Logan UT

Investigators

Abstract

The PI and coworkers will conduct a series of smog chamber experiments at the University of California, Riverside to study the reaction kinetics and products of small amines with reactive nitrogen (NOy) compounds. Despite mounting evidence that alkyl amines may be precursors to particle constituents, few laboratory studies of the possible chemical mechanisms have been conducted, and none have looked at the interactions of amines with the nitrate radical (NO3) and dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5). Particle formation rates and mechanisms will be investigated with controlled laboratory studies simulating alkyl amine reactions in the atmosphere. The studies will focus on amine reactions with nitrate radical and dinitrogen pentoxide, and their condensed-phase (particulate) products. Gas-phase amine concentrations will be monitored using a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTRMS) while aerosol composition will be characterized with a high resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (TOF-AMS). Aerosol size distributions will also be obtained from a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS), and gravimetric samples will be chemically analyzed off-line using mass spectrometry techniques. Studies of aerosol formation reactions from amines will yield information on the global cycle of nitrogen. Currently, particulate phase amines are not accounted for in global models of organic nitrogen. This work should more clearly elucidate the fate of reduced organic nitrogen in the atmosphere, and will be helpful for understanding the fate of agricultural air pollutants. Other broader impacts include support for one Ph.D. student to perform the smog chamber studies, which will become part of his/her dissertation, and support for undergraduate research assistants to perform data analysis and off-line chemical analysis of particles.