Seminar

Abstract

Laboratory studies conducted in environmental (smog) chambers provide much of the fundamental data on reaction kinetics, products, and mechanisms that are needed to achieve a deep understanding of atmospheric chemistry and to develop detailed and accurate models that are used to establish air quality regulations and to predict the effects of human activities on global climate. In this talk I will describe research in my laboratory that focuses on the chemical and physical processes by which oxidized products of atmospheric reactions of organic compounds form microscopic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles. Studies are conducted in large-volume environmental chambers in which experiments are designed to simulate atmospheric chemistry, and a diverse array of analytical methods are used to obtain information on gas and particle chemical composition, heterogeneous/multiphase reaction rates and equilibria, and gas-particle-wall interactions. I will focus in particular on the reactions of alkanes with OH radicals in polluted air, a system that is ideal for demonstrating the challenges faced in developing comprehensive mechanisms of SOA formation from environmental chamber studies.