Formation of Secondary Particulate Matter by Reactions of Gas Phase Hexanal with Sulfate Aerosol Particles

The formation of secondary particulate matter from the atmospheric oxidation of organic compounds can significantly contribute to the particulate burden, but the formation of organic secondary particulate matter is poorly understood. One way of producing organic secondary particulate matter is the oxidation of hydrocarbons with seven or more carbon atoms to get products with low vapor pressure. However, several recent reports suggest that relatively low molecular weight carbonyls can enter the particle phase by undergoing heterogeneous reactions. This may be a very important mechanism for the formation of organic secondary particulate matter. Atmospheric aldehydes are important carbonyls in the gas phase, which form via the oxidation of hydrocarbons emitted from anthropogenic and biogenic sources. In this poster, we report the results on particle growth by the heterogeneous reactions of hexanal. A 5 L Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) is set up to conduct the reactions in the presence of seed aerosol particles of deliquesced ammonia bisulfate. Hexanal is added into CSTR by syringe pump, meanwhile the concentrations of hexanal are monitored with High Pressure Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC 1050). A differential Mobility Analyzer (TSI 3071) set to an appropriate voltage is employed to obtain monodisperse aerosols, and another DMA associated with a Condensation Nuclear Counter (TSI 7610) is used to measure the secondary particle size distribution by the reaction in CSTR. This permits the sensitive determination of particle growth due to the heterogeneous reaction, very little growth occurs when hexanal added alone. Results for the simultaneous addition of hexanal and alcohols will also be presented.