Photoactivator Chemistry in Atmospheric Aerosols

有了这个奖项，化学系的环境化学科学计划正在资助哥伦比亚大学的Faye麦克尼尔教授，他与天普大学的戴海龙教授和饶毅教授合作，研究与大气气溶胶有关的光化学反应。 太阳光是气相大气化学的主要驱动力，但在大气气溶胶粒子内部或在气体-气溶胶界面发生的光化学的重要性还没有得到很好的理解。涉及吸收光的有机气溶胶成分作为光活化剂参与的反应被认为是重要气相物质如NO2（二氧化氮）和O3（臭氧）的光化学起源和处理的途径。该项目采用理论和实验相结合的方法来研究气溶胶内部的化学物质。PI还制定了一项综合教育和外联方案，包括三个主要目标：（1）AIRE，一个针对学生和教育工作者的西班牙语/英语双语博客和信息网站（2）与当地K-12科学教育工作者一起进行研究和课程开发，和（3）教师认证计划，旨在培训职业中期和早期退休的数学和科学专业人员，建议的研究是由一个假设的启发，涉及大气气溶胶颗粒内部的光吸收有机化合物的光活化化学可能会导致氧化气溶胶有机材料的形成，通过挥发性有机化合物（VOC）的直接氧化或通过在气溶胶相中形成氧化自由基。 这一假设正在测试她的实验和建模方法相结合，旨在获得必要的分子水平的洞察光活化气溶胶化学。先进的光谱技术，激光闪光光解和计算化学将用于在分子水平上创造感兴趣的系统的新知识。气溶胶流动反应器实验是用来量化这些过程的气溶胶条件下的动力学。将通过大气化学模拟评估这种化学作用对环境的影响。这项工作预计将提供深入了解大气气溶胶化学与更广泛的科学影响的影响，排放的气体对空气成分和衍生物的属性。

With this award, the Environmental Chemical Sciences Program of the Division of Chemistry is funding Professor Faye McNeill of Columbia University who, in collaboration with Professors Hai-Lung Dai and Yi Rao of Temple University is investigating photochemical reactions related to atmospheric aerosols. Sunlight is the primary driving force in gas-phase atmospheric chemistry, but the importance of photochemistry occurring inside atmospheric aerosol particles or at the gas-aerosol interface is not well understood. Reactions involving the participation of light-absorbing organic aerosol components as photo-activators have been suggested as pathways for the photochemical origin and processing of important gas-phase species such as NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) and O3 (ozone). This project uses a combination of theory and experiment to investigate chemistry inside aerosols. The PIs have also developed an integrated education and outreach program consisting of three major thrusts: (1) AIRE, a Spanish/English bilingual blog and informational website targeted at students and educators (2) Research and curriculum development with local K-12 science educators, and (3) a teacher certification program designed to train midcareer and early retiree mathematics and science professionals as middle-school teachersThe proposed research is inspired by the hypothesis that photoactivated chemistry involving light-absorbing organic compounds inside atmospheric aerosol particles may lead to the formation of oxidized aerosol organic material, either via the direct oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or via the formation of oxidizing radicals in the aerosol phase. This hypothesis is being tested her by a combination of experimental and modeling approaches designed to gain the necessary molecular-level insight into photoactivated aerosol chemistry. Advanced spectroscopic techniques, laser flash photolysis, and computational chemistry will be used to create new knowledge of the systems of interest at the molecular level. Aerosol flow reactor experiments are to be used to quantify the kinetics of these processes under aerosol conditions. The impact of this chemistry in the environmental context is to be evaluated via atmospheric chemistry modeling. This work is expected to provide insight into atmospheric aerosol chemistry with broader scientific impact on the impact of emitted gases upon air composition and derivative properties.