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High resolution mass spectrometry of high molecular weight compounds formed via the heterogeneous reaction of OH with simple organic aerosols


EMSL Project ID
30418

Abstract

Our objective is to determine the fundamental reaction rates and mechanisms for the
heterogeneous oxidation of organic aerosols by OH radicals. Single component organic aerosols
particles are used to probe the reaction rates and mechanism in order to gain sufficient molecular-level detail to allow accurate predictions of how the OH radicals might transform the chemical composition of more complex organic aerosols such as diesel soot. The proposed research program will apply state-of-the-art mass spectrometric
approaches developed for large complex molecules (e.g. biomolecules and synthetic polymers) to interrogate chemical composition of laboratory produced SOA. Specifically, an LTQ-Orbitrap MS instrument will be used as a primary analytical tool for chemical characterization of SOA, which will
allow us to detect both low- and high-MW species.

Project Details

Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2008-10-01
End Date
2009-09-30
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Kevin Wilson
Institution
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Team Members

Jared Smith
Institution
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Chongmin Wang
Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Alexander Laskin
Institution
Purdue University