Results from photooxidation of aromatic compounds in a reaction chamber show that a substantial fraction of the organic aerosol mass is composed of polymers. This polymerization results from reactions of carbonyls and their hydrates. After aging for more than 20 hours, about 50% of the particle mass consists of polymers with a molecular mass up to 1000 daltons. This results in a lower volatility of this secondary organic aerosol and a higher aerosol yield than a model using vapor pressures of individual organic species would predict.

Abstract. Ambient continental-rural fine aerosol (K-puszta, Hungary, PM 1.5 ) was sampled on quartz fibre filters in winter and summer 2001. Water-soluble matter (WSM) was extracted in MilliQ-water, and, in a second step, solid phase extraction was used to isolate the less hydrophilic fraction (ISOM) of the water-soluble organic matter (WSOM) from remaining inorganic salts and "most" hydrophilic organic matter (MHOM). This approach allowed ISOM, which constitutes the major fraction of WSOM, to be isolated from ambient aerosols and investigated in pure form. Hygroscopic properties of both WSM and ISOM extracts as well as of aquatic reference fulvic and humic acids were investigated using a Hygroscopicity Tandem Differential Mobility Analyser (H-TDMA). ISOM deliquesced between 30% and 60% relative humidity (RH), and hygroscopic growth factors at 90% RH ranged from 1.08 to 1.17. The hygroscopicity of ISOM is comparable to secondary organic aerosols obtained in smog chamber experiments, but lower than the hygroscopicity of highly soluble organic acids. The hygroscopic behaviour of investigated fulvic and humic acids had similarities to ISOM, but hygroscopic growth factors were slightly smaller and deliquescence was observed at higher RH (75-85% and 85-95% RH for fulvic acid and humic acid, respectively). These differences probably originate from larger average molecular mass and lower solubility of fulvic and humic acids.Inorganic composition data, measured ISOM hygroscopicity, and a presumed value for the hygroscopicity of the small remaining MHOM fraction were used to predict hygroscopic growth of WSM extracts. Good agreement between model prediction and measured water uptake was observed with differences (by volume) ranging from +1% to −18%. While deliquescence properties of WSM extracts were mainly determined by the inorganic salts (42-53 wt % Correspondence to: E. Weingartner (ernest.weingartner@psi.ch) of WSM), the WSOM accounted for a significant fraction of particulate water. At 90% RH, according to model predictions and measurements, about 80-62% of particulate water in the samples are associated with inorganic salts and about 20-38% with WSOM. The relative contributions of both distinguished WSOM fractions, ISOM and MHOM, remains uncertain since MHOM was not available in isolated form, but the results suggest that the less abundant MHOM is also important due to its presumably larger hygroscopicity.

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from the photooxidation of an anthropogenic (1,3,5-trimethylbenzene) and a biogenic (alpha-pinene) precursor was investigated at the new PSI smog chamber. The chemistry of the gas phase was followed by proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry, while the aerosol chemistry was investigated with aerosol mass spectrometry, ion chromatography, laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry, and infrared spectroscopy, along with volatility and hygroscopicity studies. Evidence for oligomer formation for SOA from both precursors was given by an increasing abundance of compounds with a high molecular weight (up to 1000 Da) and by an increasing thermal stability with increasing aging time. The results were compared to data obtained from ambient aerosol samples, revealing a number of similar features.

Abstract. An Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) has been utilised to provide on-line measurements of the mass spectral signatures and mass size distributions of the oxidation products resulting from irradiating 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (1,3,5-TMB) and α-pinene, separately, in the presence of nitrogen oxide, nitrogen dioxide and propene in a reaction chamber. Mass spectral results indicate that both precursors produce SOA with broadly similar chemical functionality of a highly oxidised nature. However, significant differences occur in the minor mass spectral fragments for the SOA in the two reaction systems, indicating that they have different molecular composition. Nitrogencontaining organic compounds have been observed in the photooxidation products of both precursors, and their formation appeared to be controlled by the temporal variability of NO x . Although the overall fragmentation patterns of the photooxidation products in both systems did not change substantially over the duration of each experiment, the contribution of some individual mass fragments to total mass appeared to be influenced by the irradiation time. The effective densities of the 1,3,5-TMB and α-pinene SOA particles were determined for various particle sizes using the relationship between mobility and vacuum aerodynamic diameters. The effective density for the 1,3,5-TMB SOA ranged from 1.35-1.40 g/cm 3 , while that for α-pinene SOA ranged from 1.29-1.32 g/cm 3 . The determined effective densities did not show dependence on irradiation time. Results suggest that further chemical processing of SOA takes place in Correspondence to: M. R. Alfarra (rami.alfarra@psi.ch) the real atmosphere, as neither the α-pinene nor the 1,3,5-TMB experimental results reproduce the right relative product distribution between carbonyl-containing and multifunctional carboxylic acid species measured at ambient locations influenced by aged continental organic aerosols.