Residential College | false |
Status | 已發表Published |
Effect of Relative Humidity on Secondary Brown Carbon Formation in Aqueous Droplets | |
Kasthuriarachchi, Nethmi Y.1; Rivellini, Laura Hélèna2; Chen, Xi3; Li, Yong Jie3; Lee, Alex K.Y.1,2 | |
2020-10-20 | |
Source Publication | Environmental Science and Technology |
ABS Journal Level | 3 |
ISSN | 0013-936X |
Volume | 54Issue:20Pages:13207-13216 |
Abstract | Atmospheric brown carbon (BrC) is a significant contributor to particulate light absorption. Reactions between small aldehydes and reduced nitrogen species have been shown to produce secondary BrC in atmospheric droplets. These reactions can be substantially accelerated upon droplet evaporation. Despite aqueous droplets undergoing continuous water evaporation and uptake in response to the surrounding relative humidity (RH), secondary BrC formation in these droplets under various RH conditions remains poorly understood. In this work, we investigate BrC formation from reactions of two aqueous-phase precursors, glyoxal and methylglyoxal, with ammonium sulfate or glycine in aqueous droplets after drying at a range of RH (30-90%). Our results illustrate, for the first time, that BrC production varies as a function of RH. For all four chemical reaction systems being investigated, mass absorption efficiencies (MAE, m2/g C) of aqueous aerosol products (from 270 to 512 nm wavelength range) generally increase with reducing RH to reach a maximum at ∼55-65% RH and subsequently decrease, caused by further drying. Chemical characterization using high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometry shows that the formation of nitrogen-containing organic species also follows a similar variation with RH. Our observations reveal that the acceleration of BrC production from evaporation of water may be diminished by other factors, such as limited particle-phase water content, phase transition, and volatility of reactants and products. Overall, our results highlight that intermediate RH conditions in the atmosphere may be more efficient in secondary BrC formation, indicating that the effect of RH needs to be included in atmospheric models for a more accurate representation of light-absorbing aerosol formation in aqueous droplets. |
DOI | 10.1021/acs.est.0c01239 |
URL | View the original |
Indexed By | SCIE |
Language | 英語English |
WOS Research Area | Engineering ; Environmental Sciences & Ecology |
WOS Subject | Engineering ; Environmental Sciences & Ecology |
WOS ID | WOS:000584422500042 |
Scopus ID | 2-s2.0-85093885024 |
Fulltext Access | |
Citation statistics | |
Document Type | Journal article |
Collection | DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING |
Corresponding Author | Lee, Alex K.Y. |
Affiliation | 1.Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117576, Singapore 2.Nus Environmental Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117411, Singapore 3.Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Macao |
Recommended Citation GB/T 7714 | Kasthuriarachchi, Nethmi Y.,Rivellini, Laura Hélèna,Chen, Xi,et al. Effect of Relative Humidity on Secondary Brown Carbon Formation in Aqueous Droplets[J]. Environmental Science and Technology, 2020, 54(20), 13207-13216. |
APA | Kasthuriarachchi, Nethmi Y.., Rivellini, Laura Hélèna., Chen, Xi., Li, Yong Jie., & Lee, Alex K.Y. (2020). Effect of Relative Humidity on Secondary Brown Carbon Formation in Aqueous Droplets. Environmental Science and Technology, 54(20), 13207-13216. |
MLA | Kasthuriarachchi, Nethmi Y.,et al."Effect of Relative Humidity on Secondary Brown Carbon Formation in Aqueous Droplets".Environmental Science and Technology 54.20(2020):13207-13216. |
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