The recent discovery of organic aerosol growth through photosensitized VOC oxidation has indicated that this heterogeneous growth process may be a significant contributor to ambient aerosol mass. Most studies have focused on imidazole photosensitization under dry conditions (RH≤15%), and have worked to determine the mechanism and products of the photosensitized oxidation of limonene by imidazole-2-carboxaldehyde (IC). IC is formed from the aqueous reaction of glyoxal and ammonium sulfate, and has been shown to be a contributor to brown carbon. The conditions under which this photosensitized growth occurs have not been fully explored, and we must understand them in order to predict the importance of this aerosol growth pathway. We present experiments probing photosensitized aerosol growth under a variety of conditions. The magnitude of photosensitized growth observed varies as a function of ambient relative humidity, photosensitizer concentration, and VOC concentration. This work indicates that the extent of photosensitized growth may be highly dependent on regional atmospheric conditions.

Exploration of organic aerosol growth through photosensitized oxidation of VOCs

251st National Meeting (2016)

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