CAREER: Characterizing Acid-Catalyzed Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation in the Atmosphere

通过这个职业奖，化学系的环境化学科学项目支持了巴尔的摩县马里兰大学的克里斯托弗·J·亨尼根教授的研究。Hennigan教授正在研究酸催化反应对大气中挥发性有机化合物转化为二次有机气溶胶(SOA)的影响。SOA是大气中一种普遍存在的高度丰富的细颗粒物成分，对人类健康和气候产生气溶胶效应。这项研究弥合了实验室和环境研究之间关于颗粒物酸度在形成SOA中的作用的明显分歧。这些研究试图在模型中实现对SOA形成的改进表示，从而可能导致对环境气溶胶负荷的预测能力的改进。Hennigan教授正在将这项研究与教育活动相结合，以扩大未被充分代表的群体获得环境化学研究的机会。这将通过迈耶霍夫学者夏季桥梁计划以及通过组织将高中生与从事环境化学研究的本科生联系起来的外展活动来促进。在这项工作中，正在开发快速、接近实时的颗粒物酸度测量的新方法。其结果将是一个自动化系统，提供迄今为止任何气溶胶pH测量或估计方法的高时间分辨率和准确性的最佳组合。该系统正被用于表征酸催化对大气中半挥发性有机化合物气-颗粒分配的影响。环境测量将跨越多个季节，以捕捉不同的气象条件和来源影响。这项工作旨在提供对大气中人为污染物转化生物排放的过程的详细了解。这对于理解人类活动对空气成分和质量变化的更广泛影响以及由此对气候的影响具有重要意义。

With this CAREER Award, the Environmental Chemical Sciences Program of the Division of Chemistry is supporting the research of Professor Christopher J. Hennigan at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Professor Hennigan is characterizing the effects of acid-catalyzed reactions on the atmospheric transformation of volatile organic compounds into secondary organic aerosol (SOA). SOA is a ubiquitous and highly abundant component of fine particle mass in the atmosphere, contributing to aerosol effects on human health and climate. This research bridges the apparent disagreement between laboratory and ambient studies on the role of particle acidity in forming SOA. These studies seek to achieve an improved representation of SOA formation in models and thus, may lead to improved predictive capabilities of ambient aerosol loadings. Professor Hennigan is integrating the research with educational activities that broaden access of underrepresented groups to research in environmental chemistry. This will be facilitated through the Meyerhoff Scholars Summer Bridge Program, and through the organization of outreach that connects high school students with undergraduates pursuing environmental chemistry research.In this work, new methodology is being developed for the fast, near real-time measurement of particle acidity. The result will be an automated system that provides the best combination of high time resolution and accuracy of any aerosol pH measurement or estimation method to-date. The system is being deployed to characterize the effects of acid catalysis on the gas-particle partitioning of semi-volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere. The ambient measurements will span multiple seasons to capture a diverse array of meteorological conditions and source influences. The work seeks to provide a detailed understanding of a process in which biogenic emissions are transformed by anthropogenic pollutants in the atmosphere. This has implications for understanding the broader impact of human activities on changes in air composition and quality and consequential impacts upon climate.