Secondary organic aerosol formation from the gas phase reaction of hydroxyl radicals with m-, o- and p-cresol

• Published in: Atmospheric environment (1994) 2008-04, Vol.42 (13), p.3035-3045
• Main Authors: Henry, Françoise, Coeur-Tourneur, Cecile, Ledoux, Frédéric, Tomas, Alexandre, Menu, Dominique
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; Chemical Sciences; Cresol isomers; Exact sciences and technology; Hydroxyl radical; or physical chemistry; Pollutants physicochemistry study: properties, effects, reactions, transport and distribution; Pollution; Secondary organic aerosol yields; Smog chamber; Theoretical and
• ISSN: 1352-2310; 1873-2844
• DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.12.043

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation during the atmospheric oxidation of cresols was investigated using a large smog chamber (8000 L), at atmospheric pressure, 294±2 K and low relative humidity (6–10%). Cresol oxidation was initiated by irradiation of cresol/CH 3ONO/NO/air mixtures. The cresol loss was measured by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and the temporal evolution of the aerosol was monitored using a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS). The overall organic aerosol yield ( Y) was determined as the ratio of the suspended aerosol mass corrected for wall losses ( M o) to the total reacted cresol concentrations assuming a particle density of 1.4 g cm −3. Analysis of the data clearly show that Y is a strong function of M o and that SOA formation can be expressed by a one-product gas/particle partitioning absorption model. The aerosol formation is affected by the initial cresol concentration, which leads to aerosol yields from 9% to 42%. These results are in good agreement with a recent study performed on SOA formation from the photo-oxidation of o-cresol in a smog chamber. To our knowledge, the present work represents the first investigation of SOA formation from OH reaction with m- and p-cresol.