Aerosol Chemistry of Complex Plant Volatile Systems

This project seeks to provide new mechanistic understanding of atmospheric chemistry associated with complex plant emissions that contribute to the production of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in the atmosphere. Complex mixtures of plant biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions are not currently accounted for in most regional or global aerosol models.

This research will help to characterize the chemical behavior of SOA precursors that have not been studied previously, including the important effects of mixtures.

The goal of this research is to study critical gaps across a range of chemical complexities in plant emissions that include: (1) single component, low complexity laboratory experiments that focus on acyclic terpenes and oxygenated monoterpenes that are commonly emitted by plants but are underrepresented in the SOA literature, (2) complex volatile mixtures made from synthetic standards (intermediate complexity), and (3) actual plant emissions (highest complexity). Laboratory SOA will be generated via photooxidation or ozonolysis in an oxidation flow reactor (OFR).

At least four major data products will be generated for each VOC system to characterize the SOA chemistry: SOA mass yield curves, SOA oxidant exposure curves, Kroll diagrams, and volatility distributions.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.