Sunlight Driven Chemistry in Aqueous Environments

在这个由国家科学基金会化学部环境化学科学计划资助的项目中，科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的Veronica Vaida教授研究了有机分子的阳光引发化学。该研究计划解决了以下问题：在水环境中，阳光引发的化学反应在改变大气中的有机分子方面起着什么作用？光化学反应如何影响海洋表面的分子和大气气溶胶粒子？什么是粒子形成的非生物机制，它使用阳光作为能源和水界面作为反应介质？实验室数据在多大程度上可以用于模拟现实的环境化学？通过回答这些问题，学生和博士后获得广泛的专业知识和技能，在大气化学。 学生由具有互补知识基础和技能的国际和跨学科团队的同事指导。研究人员和跨学科国际合作者之间的科学交流大大拓宽了所有参与该项目的人员的教育经验，这项工作推导出了在不同阶段发生的大气光化学的分子水平机制和定量模型，包括气相和水相以及水面。这些光化学反应在大气气溶胶的形成和化学演变中发挥着重要作用，对人类健康和气候变化具有潜在的重要影响。这项调查研究了阳光引发的，水介导的，有机分子的化学反应性的基本科学方面。使用实验室和理论研究相结合，研究的结果是一个更好的理解的机制，动力学和光化学反应发生在集群和气溶胶表面，在大气中的重要性。

In this project funded by the Environmental Chemical Sciences Program in the Chemistry Division at the National Science Foundation, Professor Veronica Vaida at the University of Colorado-Boulder studies the sunlight-initiated chemistry of organic molecules. The research program addresses the following questions: What role does sunlight-initiated chemistry in aqueous environments play in altering organic molecules in the atmosphere? How do photochemical reactions affect the molecules in the sea surface and atmospheric aerosol particles? What are the non-biological mechanisms for particle formation, which use sunlight as the energy source and aqueous interfaces as reaction media? To what extent can laboratory data be used to model realistic environmental chemistry? By answering these questions, students and postdoctoral fellows gain broad expertise and skills in atmospheric chemistry. The students are guided by an international and interdisciplinary team of colleagues with complementary knowledge base and skill sets. The scientific exchange between investigators and interdisciplinary international collaborators significantly broadens the educational experience of all those involved in this project.This work derives molecular-level mechanisms and quantitative models for atmospheric photochemistry that occur in different phases, including gaseous and aqueous phases and at the surface of water. These photochemical reactions play an important role in the formation and chemical evolution of atmospheric aerosols with potentially important consequences to human health and climate change. This investigation examines the basic scientific aspects of sunlight-initiated, water-mediated, chemical reactivity of organic molecules. Using a combination of laboratory and theoretical studies, the outcome of the research is an improved understanding of the mechanisms, dynamics, and rates of photochemical reactions occurring in clusters and on aerosol surfaces that are of importance in the atmosphere.