Heterogeneous and Multiphase Reactions of Volatile and Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds on Mineral Dust Aerosol

这一奖项来自美国国家科学基金会化学部的环境化学科学项目，支持加州大学圣地亚哥分校的Vicky Grassian教授。格拉西安教授和她的团队研究了气溶胶的作用，特别是它们与大气中来自自然和污染源的不同气体的相互作用。气溶胶是悬浮在空气中的固体或液体颗粒。它们是地球大气的重要组成部分，会影响人类健康和气候。这个项目研究矿物粉尘气溶胶的化学反应，矿物粉尘气溶胶是一种来自风化土壤和沙漠地区的气溶胶，在全球范围内循环。了解矿物粉尘气溶胶与气体的相互作用增加了我们对构成大气和我们呼吸的空气的不同成分的了解。其他更广泛的影响包括本科生和研究生的培训。格拉西安教授有一个研究项目，吸引了大量多样化的学生，包括许多女性和代表性较低的少数族裔。此外，还将为更广泛的公众开展教育和外联活动。Grassian博士领导了扩大和提高外联活动有效性的努力，包括进一步为更广泛的公众开发涵盖K-12学生的动手活动，包括将挥发性有机化合物排放的增加与熟悉的消费品联系起来的活动。该项目侧重于实验室研究挥发性和半挥发性有机化合物与地球大气的重要组成部分矿物粉尘气溶胶的反应。有机化合物包括被称为挥发性化学产品(VCP)的微量大气气体，最近被确认为一类主要来自工业来源的化合物。利用质谱学和振动光谱学的多技术、基于分子的方法来探索吸附的有机化合物的表面吸附以及随后与酸性气体和氧化剂的反应的机理细节。该研究项目确定了这些反应的机制如何随着相对湿度和吸附水的存在而变化。该项目还确定了矿物粉尘气溶胶的不同成分如何影响其反应性。在这些反应中形成的新产品正在进行表征。这项研究旨在从基本分子过程和潜在的全球影响的角度对挥发性和半挥发性有机化合物与矿物粉尘气溶胶的异相和多相化学提供新的见解和更好的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award from the Environmental Chemical Sciences Program in the NSF Division of Chemistry supports Professor Vicky Grassian at the University of California, San Diego. Professor Grassian and her team investigate the role of aerosols, in particular, their interactions with different gases in the atmosphere from both natural and pollution sources. Aerosols are solid or liquid particles suspended in air. They are an important component of the Earth’s atmosphere and can impact human health and climate. This project investigates the chemical reactions of mineral dust aerosols, a class of aerosols from windblown soils and desert regions that circulate around the globe. Understanding the interaction of mineral dust aerosol with gases increases our knowledge of the different components that make up the atmosphere and the air we breathe. Other broader impacts include the training of undergraduate and graduate students. Professor Grassian has a research program that attracts a large and diverse number of students including many women and underrepresented minorities. Additionally, educational and outreach activities for the broader public will be developed. Dr. Grassian leads efforts to expand and enhance the effectiveness of outreach activities including further development of hands-on activities for the broader public that span K-12 students including activities that relate increase in volatile organic emissions to familiar consumer products.,This project focuses on laboratory studies of reactions of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds with mineral dust aerosol, an important component of the Earth’s atmosphere. The organic compounds include trace atmospheric gases termed volatile chemical products (VCPs), which recently have been identified as a class of compounds that comes predominantly from industrial sources. A multi-technique, molecule-based approach employing mass spectrometry and vibrational spectroscopy is used to probe mechanistic details of surface adsorption and subsequent reactions of the adsorbed organic compounds with acidic gases and oxidants. The research project identifies how mechanisms for these reactions change as a function of relative humidity and the presence of adsorbed water. The project also determines how the different components of mineral dust aerosol impact its reactivity. New products formed in these reactions are being characterized. This research aims to provide new insights and a better understanding of the heterogeneous and multiphase chemistry of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds with mineral dust aerosols from the perspective of fundamental molecular processes as well as potential global impacts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.