Application of fuzzy c-means clustering for analysis of chemical ionization mass spectra: insights into the gas-phase chemistry of NO3-initiated oxidation of isoprene

Oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can lead to the formation of secondary organic aerosol, a significant component of atmospheric fine particles, which can affect air quality, human health, and climate change. However, current understanding of the formation mechanism of SOA is still incomplete, which is not only due to the complexity of the chemistry, but also relates to analytical challenges in SOA precursor detection and quantification. Recent instrumental advances, especially the developments of high-resolution time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS), greatly enhanced the capability to detect low- and extremely low-volatility organic molecules (L/ELVOCs). Although detection and characterization of low volatility vapors largely improved our understanding of SOA formation, analyzing and interpreting complex mass spectrometric data remains a challenging task. This necessitates the use of dimension-reduction techniques to simplify mass spectrometric data with the purpose of extracting chemical and kinetic information of the investigated system. Here we present an approach by using fuzzy c-means clustering (FCM) to analyze CIMS data from chamber experiments aiming to investigate the gas-phase chemistry of nitrate radical initiated oxidation of isoprene. The performance of FCM was evaluated and validated. By applying FCM various oxidation products were classified into different groups according to their chemical and kinetic properties, and the common patterns of their time series were identified, which gave insights into the chemistry of the system investigated. The chemical properties are characterized by elemental ratios and average carbon oxidation state, and the kinetic behaviors are parameterized with generation number and effective rate coefficient (describing the average reactivity of a species) by using the gamma kinetic parameterization model. In addition, the fuzziness of FCM algorithm provides a possibility to separate isomers or different chemical processes species are involved in, which could be useful for mechanism development. Overall FCM is a well applicable technique to simplify complex mass spectrometric data, and the chemical and kinetic properties derived from clustering can be utilized to understand the reaction system of interest.</p

Experimental study of the role of physicochemical surface processing on the IN ability of mineral dust particles

During the measurement campaign FROST 2 (FReezing Of duST 2), the Leipzig Aerosol Cloud Interaction Simulator (LACIS) was used to investigate the influence of various surface modifications on the ice nucleating ability of Arizona Test Dust (ATD) particles in the immersion freezing mode. The dust particles were exposed to sulfuric acid vapor, to water vapor with and without the addition of ammonia gas, and heat using a thermodenuder operating at 250 °C. Size selected, quasi monodisperse particles with a mobility diameter of 300 nm were fed into LACIS and droplets grew on these particles such that each droplet contained a single particle. Temperature dependent frozen fractions of these droplets were determined in a temperature range between −40 °C ≤T≤−28 °C. The pure ATD particles nucleated ice over a broad temperature range with their freezing behavior being separated into two freezing branches characterized through different slopes in the frozen fraction vs. temperature curves. Coating the ATD particles with sulfuric acid resulted in the particles' IN potential significantly decreasing in the first freezing branch (T>−35 °C) and a slight increase in the second branch (T≤−35 °C). The addition of water vapor after the sulfuric acid coating caused the disappearance of the first freezing branch and a strong reduction of the IN ability in the second freezing branch. The presence of ammonia gas during water vapor exposure had a negligible effect on the particles' IN ability compared to the effect of water vapor. Heating in the thermodenuder led to a decreased IN ability of the sulfuric acid coated particles for both branches but the additional heat did not or only slightly change the IN ability of the pure ATD and the water vapor exposed sulfuric acid coated particles. In other words, the combination of both sulfuric acid and water vapor being present is a main cause for the ice active surface features of the ATD particles being destroyed. A possible explanation could be the chemical transformation of ice active metal silicates to metal sulfates. The strongly enhanced reaction between sulfuric acid and dust in the presence of water vapor and the resulting significant reductions in IN potential are of importance for atmospheric ice cloud formation. Our findings suggest that the IN concentration can decrease by up to one order of magnitude for the conditions investigated

Chamber investigation of the formation and transformation of secondary organic aerosol in mixtures of biogenic and anthropogenic volatile organic compounds

A comprehensive chamber investigation of photochemical secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation and transformation in mixtures of anthropogenic (o-cresol) and biogenic (alpha-pinene and isoprene) volatile organic compound (VOC) precursors in the presence of NOx and inorganic seed particles was conducted. To enable direct comparison across systems, the initial concentration (hence reactivity) of the systems towards the dominant OH oxidant was adjusted. Comparing experiments conducted in single-precursor systems at various initial reactivity levels (referenced to a nominal base case VOC concentration, e.g. halving the initial concentration for a 1/2 initial reactivity experiment) as well as their binary and ternary mixtures, we show that the molecular interactions from the mixing of the precursors can be investigated and discuss challenges in their interpretation. The observed average SOA particle mass yields (the organic particle mass produced for a mass of VOC consumed) in descending order were found for the following systems: alpha-pinene (32 +/- 7 %), alpha-pinene-o-cresol (28 +/- 9 %), alpha-pinene at 1/2 initial reactivity (21 +/- 5 %), alpha-pinene-isoprene (16 +/- 1 %), alpha-pinene at 1/3 initial reactivity (15 +/- 4 %), o-cresol (13 +/- 3 %), alpha-pinene-o-cresol-isoprene (11 +/- 4 %), o-cresol at 1/2 initial reactivity (11 +/- 3 %), o-cresol-isoprene (6 +/- 2 %), and isoprene (0 +/- 0 %). We find a clear suppression of the SOA mass yield from alpha-pinene when it is mixed with isoprene, whilst no suppression or enhancement of SOA particle yield from o-cresol was found when it was similarly mixed with isoprene. The alpha-pinene-o-cresol system yield appeared to be increased compared to that calculated based on the additivity, whilst in the alpha-pinene-o-cresol-isoprene system the measured and predicted yields were comparable. However, in mixtures in which more than one precursor contributes to the SOA particle mass it is unclear whether changes in the SOA formation potential are attributable to physical or chemical interactions, since the reference basis for the comparison is complex. Online and offline chemical composition as well as SOA particle volatility, water uptake, and "phase" behaviour measurements that were used to interpret the SOA formation and behaviour are introduced and detailed elsewhere.ISSN:1680-7375ISSN:1680-736

Multi-generation OH oxidation as a source for highly oxygenated organic molecules from aromatics

Recent studies have recognised highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs) in the atmosphere as important in the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). A large number of studies have focused on HOM formation from oxidation of biogenically emitted monoterpenes. However, HOM formation from anthropogenic vapours has so far received much less attention. Previous studies have identified the importance of aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for SOA formation. In this study, we investigated several aromatic compounds, benzene (C6H6), toluene (C7H8), and naphthalene (C10H8), for their potential to form HOMs upon reaction with hydroxyl radicals (OH). We performed flow tube experiments with all three VOCs and focused in detail on benzene HOM formation in the Julich Plant Atmosphere Chamber (JPAC). In JPAC, we also investigated the response of HOMs to NOx and seed aerosol. Using a nitrate-based chemical ionisation mass spectrometer (CI-APi-TOF), we observed the formation of HOMs in the flow reactor oxidation of benzene from the first OH attack. However, in the oxidation of toluene and naphthalene, which were injected at lower concentrations, multi-generation OH oxidation seemed to impact the HOM composition. We tested this in more detail for the benzene system in the JPAC, which allowed for studying longer residence times. The results showed that the apparent molar benzene HOM yield under our experimental conditions varied from 4.1% to 14.0%, with a strong dependence on the OH concentration, indicating that the majority of observed HOMs formed through multiple OH-oxidation steps. The composition of the identified HOMs in the mass spectrum also supported this hypothesis. By injecting only phenol into the chamber, we found that phenol oxidation cannot be solely responsible for the observed HOMs in benzene experiments. When NOx was added to the chamber, HOM composition changed and many oxygenated nitrogen-containing products were observed in CI-APi-TOF. Upon seed aerosol injection, the HOM loss rate was higher than predicted by irreversible condensation, suggesting that some undetected oxygenated intermediates also condensed onto seed aerosol, which is in line with the hypothesis that some of the HOMs were formed in multi-generation OH oxidation. Based on our results, we conclude that HOM yield and composition in aromatic systems strongly depend on OH and VOC concentration and more studies are needed to fully understand this effect on the formation of HOMs and, consequently, SOA. We also suggest that the dependence of HOM yield on chamber conditions may explain part of the variability in SOA yields reported in the literature and strongly advise monitoring HOMs in future SOA studies.Peer reviewe

Corrigendum to "Experimental study of the role of physicochemical surface processing on the IN ability of mineral dust particles" published in Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 11131–11144, 2011

In the abstract of the manuscript, the following sentence needs to be corrected: “A possible explanation could be the chemical transformation of ice active metal silicates to metal sulfates.” “metal silicates” is wrong. It should be “aluminosilicates”

Highly Oxygenated Organic Molecules (HOM) from Gas-Phase Autoxidation Involving Peroxy Radicals : A Key Contributor to Atmospheric Aerosol

Peer reviewe

Chemical characterisation of benzene oxidation products under high- and low-NOx conditions using chemical ionisation mass spectrometry

Aromatic hydrocarbons are a class of volatile organic compounds associated with anthropogenic activity and make up a significant fraction of urban volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions that contribute to the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Benzene is one of the most abundant species emitted from vehicles, biomass burning and industry. An iodide time-of-flight chemical ionisation mass spectrometer (ToF-CIMS) and nitrate ToF-CIMS were deployed at the Julich Plant Atmosphere Chamber as part of a series of experiments examining benzene oxidation by OH under high- and low-NOx conditions, where a range of organic oxidation products were detected. The nitrate scheme detects many oxidation products with high masses, ranging from intermediate volatile organic compounds (IVOCs) to extremely low volatile organic compounds (ELVOCs), including C-12 dimers. In comparison, very few species with C->= 6 and O-> 8 were detected with the iodide scheme, which detected many more IVOCs and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) but very few ELVOCs and low volatile organic compounds (LVOCs). A total of 132 and 195 CHOPeer reviewe

Highly Oxygenated Organic Molecules (HOM) from Gas-Phase Autoxidation Involving Peroxy Radicals: A Key Contributor to Atmospheric Aerosol

Highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOM) are formed in the atmosphere via autoxidation involving peroxy radicals arising from volatile organic compounds (VOC). HOM condense on pre-existing particles and can be involved in new particle formation. HOM thus contribute to the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), a significant and ubiquitous component of atmospheric aerosol known to affect the Earth's radiation balance. HOM were discovered only very recently, but the interest in these compounds has grown rapidly. In this Review, we define HOM and describe the currently available techniques for their identification/quantification, followed by a summary of the current knowledge on their formation mechanisms and physicochemical properties. A main aim is to provide a common frame for the currently quite fragmented literature on HOM studies. Finally, we highlight the existing gaps in our understanding and suggest directions for future HOM research. © 2019 American Chemical Society