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

有了这个职业奖，化学系的环境化学科学计划正在支持巴尔的摩县马里兰州大学的Christopher J. Hennigan教授的研究。 Hennigan教授正在描述酸催化反应对挥发性有机化合物大气转化为二次有机气溶胶（SOA）的影响。 SOA是大气中普遍存在且含量丰富的细颗粒物质量组分，对气溶胶对人类健康和气候的影响有贡献。 这项研究弥合了实验室和环境研究之间的明显分歧，颗粒酸性在形成SOA的作用。 这些研究旨在实现SOA形成模型中的改进表示，因此，可能会导致环境气溶胶负荷的预测能力的提高。 Hennigan教授正在将研究与教育活动相结合，以扩大代表性不足的群体对环境化学研究的参与。 这将通过迈耶霍夫学者夏桥计划，并通过组织外展，连接高中生和本科生从事环境化学研究促进。在这项工作中，正在开发新的方法，快速，近实时测量颗粒酸度。 其结果将是一个自动化系统，提供高时间分辨率和任何气溶胶pH测量或估计方法的准确性的最佳组合。 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的气粒分离的影响。 环境测量将跨越多个季节，以捕捉各种气象条件和源影响。这项工作旨在提供一个详细的了解过程中，生物排放转化为人为污染物在大气中。这对理解人类活动对空气成分和质量变化的更广泛影响以及对气候的相应影响具有影响。

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.