PNNL

Abstract

Atmospheric inorganic particles undergo complex heterogeneous reactions that change their physicochemical properties. Depletion of chloride in sea salt particles was reported in previous field studies and was attributed to the acid displacement of chlorides with inorganic acids, such as nitric and sulfuric acids [1-2]. Recently, we showed that NaCl can react with water soluble organic acids (WSOA) and release gaseous hydrochloric acid (HCl) resulting in formation of organic salts [3]. A similar mechanism is also applicable to mixed WSOA/nitrate particles where multi-phase reactions are driven by the volatility of nitric acid. Furthermore, secondary organic material, which is a complex mixture of carboxylic acids, exhibits the same reactivity towards chlorides and nitrates. Here, we present a systematic study of reactions between atmospheric relevant WSOA, SOM, and inorganic salts including NaCl, NaNO3, and Ca(NO3)2 using complementary micro-spectroscopy analysis.