Simulation of SOA formation and composition from oxidation of toluene and m-xylene in chamber experiments

Aromatic hydrocarbons contribute an important fraction of anthropogenic reactive volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the urban atmosphere. Photo-oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons leads to secondary organic products that have decreased volatilities or increased solubilities and can form secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Despite the crucial role of aromatic-derived SOA in deteriorating air quality and harming human health, its formation mechanism is not well understood and model simulation of SOA formation still remains difficult. The dependence of aromatic SOA formation on nitrogen oxides (NOx) is not captured fully by most SOA formation models. Most models predict SOA formation under high NOx levels well but underestimate SOA formation under low NOx levels more representative of the ambient atmosphere. Thus, it is crucial to investigate the NOx-dependent chemistry in aromatic photo-oxidation systems and correspondingly update SOA formation models. In this study, NOx-dependent mechanisms of toluene and m-xylene SOA formation are updated using the gas-phase Caltech Atmospheric Chemistry Mechanism (CACM) coupled to a gas/aerosol partitioning model. The updated models were optimized by comparing to eighteen University of California, Riverside United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chamber experiment runs under both high and low NOx conditions. Correction factors for vapor pressures imply uncharacterized aerosol-phase association chemistry. Simulated SOA speciation implies the importance of ring-opening products in governing SOA formation (up to 40%~60% for both aromatics). The newly developed model can predict strong decreases of m-xylene SOA yield with increasing NOx. Speciation distributions under varied NOx levels implies that the well-known competition between RO2 + HO2 and RO2 + NO (RO2 = peroxide bicyclic radical) may not be the only factor influencing SOA formation. The reaction of aromatic peroxy radicals with NO competing with its self-cyclization also affects NOx-dependence of SOA formation. Comparison of SOA formation yield and composition between two aromatics implies aldehyde/ketone chemistry from ring-opening route and chemistry for phenolic route play important roles in governing SOA formation and that ring-opening aldehydes and phenolic nitrates are produced to a greater extent in the toluene system, leading to higher SOA yields for toluene than for m-xylene.