Mineral dust photochemistry induces nucleation events in the presence of SO2

Yoan Dupart; Stephanie Michelle King; Bettina Nekat; Andreas Nowak; Alfred Wiedensohler; Hartmut Hermann; Gregory David; Benjamin Thomas; Alain Miffre; Patrick Rairoux; Barbara D'Anna; Christian George

doi:10.1073/pnas.1212297109

Mineral dust photochemistry induces nucleation events in the presence of SO₂

Yoan Dupart, Stephanie Michelle King, Bettina Nekat, Andreas Nowak, Alfred Wiedensohler, Hartmut Hermann, Gregory David, Benjamin Thomas, Alain Miffre, Patrick Rairoux, Barbara D'Anna, Christian George

Department of Chemistry

85 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Large quantities of mineral dust particles are frequently ejected into the atmosphere through the action of wind. The surface of dust particles acts as a sink for many gases, such as sulfur dioxide. It is well known that under most conditions, sulfur dioxide reacts on dust particle surfaces, leading to the production of sulfate ions. In this report, for specific atmospheric conditions, we provide evidence for an alternate pathway in which a series of reactions under solar UV light produces first gaseous sulfuric acid as an intermediate product before surface-bound sulfate. Metal oxides present in mineral dust act as atmospheric photocatalysts promoting the formation of gaseous OH radicals, which initiate the conversion of SO₂ to H₂SO₄ in the vicinity of dust particles. Under low dust conditions, this process may lead to nucleation events in the atmosphere. The laboratory findings are supported by recent field observations near Beijing, China, and Lyon, France.

Original language	English
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	109
Issue number	51
Pages (from-to)	20842-20847
Number of pages	6
ISSN	0027-8424
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1212297109
Publication status	Published - 18 Dec 2012

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Dupart, Y., King, S. M., Nekat, B., Nowak, A., Wiedensohler, A., Hermann, H., David, G., Thomas, B., Miffre, A., Rairoux, P., D'Anna, B., & George, C. (2012). Mineral dust photochemistry induces nucleation events in the presence of SO₂. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(51), 20842-20847. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1212297109

Dupart, Y, King, SM, Nekat, B, Nowak, A, Wiedensohler, A, Hermann, H, David, G, Thomas, B, Miffre, A, Rairoux, P, D'Anna, B & George, C 2012, 'Mineral dust photochemistry induces nucleation events in the presence of SO₂', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 109, no. 51, pp. 20842-20847. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1212297109

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title = "Mineral dust photochemistry induces nucleation events in the presence of SO2",

abstract = "Large quantities of mineral dust particles are frequently ejected into the atmosphere through the action of wind. The surface of dust particles acts as a sink for many gases, such as sulfur dioxide. It is well known that under most conditions, sulfur dioxide reacts on dust particle surfaces, leading to the production of sulfate ions. In this report, for specific atmospheric conditions, we provide evidence for an alternate pathway in which a series of reactions under solar UV light produces first gaseous sulfuric acid as an intermediate product before surface-bound sulfate. Metal oxides present in mineral dust act as atmospheric photocatalysts promoting the formation of gaseous OH radicals, which initiate the conversion of SO2 to H2SO4 in the vicinity of dust particles. Under low dust conditions, this process may lead to nucleation events in the atmosphere. The laboratory findings are supported by recent field observations near Beijing, China, and Lyon, France.",

author = "Yoan Dupart and King, {Stephanie Michelle} and Bettina Nekat and Andreas Nowak and Alfred Wiedensohler and Hartmut Hermann and Gregory David and Benjamin Thomas and Alain Miffre and Patrick Rairoux and Barbara D'Anna and Christian George",

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doi = "10.1073/pnas.1212297109",

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T1 - Mineral dust photochemistry induces nucleation events in the presence of SO2

AU - Dupart, Yoan

AU - King, Stephanie Michelle

AU - Nekat, Bettina

AU - Nowak, Andreas

AU - Wiedensohler, Alfred

AU - Hermann, Hartmut

AU - David, Gregory

AU - Thomas, Benjamin

AU - Miffre, Alain

AU - Rairoux, Patrick

AU - D'Anna, Barbara

AU - George, Christian

PY - 2012/12/18

Y1 - 2012/12/18

N2 - Large quantities of mineral dust particles are frequently ejected into the atmosphere through the action of wind. The surface of dust particles acts as a sink for many gases, such as sulfur dioxide. It is well known that under most conditions, sulfur dioxide reacts on dust particle surfaces, leading to the production of sulfate ions. In this report, for specific atmospheric conditions, we provide evidence for an alternate pathway in which a series of reactions under solar UV light produces first gaseous sulfuric acid as an intermediate product before surface-bound sulfate. Metal oxides present in mineral dust act as atmospheric photocatalysts promoting the formation of gaseous OH radicals, which initiate the conversion of SO2 to H2SO4 in the vicinity of dust particles. Under low dust conditions, this process may lead to nucleation events in the atmosphere. The laboratory findings are supported by recent field observations near Beijing, China, and Lyon, France.

AB - Large quantities of mineral dust particles are frequently ejected into the atmosphere through the action of wind. The surface of dust particles acts as a sink for many gases, such as sulfur dioxide. It is well known that under most conditions, sulfur dioxide reacts on dust particle surfaces, leading to the production of sulfate ions. In this report, for specific atmospheric conditions, we provide evidence for an alternate pathway in which a series of reactions under solar UV light produces first gaseous sulfuric acid as an intermediate product before surface-bound sulfate. Metal oxides present in mineral dust act as atmospheric photocatalysts promoting the formation of gaseous OH radicals, which initiate the conversion of SO2 to H2SO4 in the vicinity of dust particles. Under low dust conditions, this process may lead to nucleation events in the atmosphere. The laboratory findings are supported by recent field observations near Beijing, China, and Lyon, France.

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1212297109

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1212297109

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 23213230

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 109

SP - 20842

EP - 20847

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 51

ER -

Mineral dust photochemistry induces nucleation events in the presence of SO2

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Mineral dust photochemistry induces nucleation events in the presence of SO₂