Midair transformations of aerosols
Résumé
Atmospheric aerosols are tiny solid or liquid particles suspended in the air that have major impact on climate, air quality, outdoor visibility and human health. Aerosols are directly emitted by natural sources and human activities but can also be formed from gaseous precursors. Therefore, their composition is extremely variable, and common aerosols are composed of sea salt, dust, soot, organic carbon, ice, water droplets, and complex mixtures of them. On the aerosol surface, water vapor and other gaseous compounds adsorb and react to form new compounds that have the capacity to influence the atmospheric chemical cycles.(1, 2) However, little is known about this chemistry despite the importance it has for improving current air quality and climate models. On page X of this issue, Kong et al.(3) describe an aerosol surface-driven reaction of great atmospheric relevance, presenting also interesting potential industrial applications. They have discovered that ammonium sulfate crystals exposed to water vapor spontaneously form elemental sulfur and nitrogen gas on their surface, a chemical transformation that is known to be unfavorable in conventional aqueous solution.
Domaines
ChimieOrigine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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