PNNL

Abstract

The heterogeneous chemistry of individual dust particles from four authentic dust samples with gas-phase nitric acid was investigated in this study. Morphology and compositional changes of individual particles as they react with nitric acid were observed using conventional scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (SEM/EDX) and computer controlled SEM/EDX. Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM) was utilized to investigate the hygroscopic behavior of mineral dust particles reacted with nitric acid. Differences in the reactivity of mineral dust particles from these four different dust source regions with nitric acid were observed. Mineral dust from source regions containing high levels of calcium, namely China loess dust and Saudi coastal dust, were found to react to the greatest extent.