Abstract.The fate of methacrolein in cloud evapocondensation cycles was experimentally investigated. To this end, aqueous-phase reactions of methacrolein with OH radicals were performed (as described in Liu et al., 2009), and the obtained solutions were then nebulized and dried into a mixing chamber. ESI-MS and ESI-MS/MS analyses of the aqueous phase composition denoted the formation of high molecular weight multifunctional products containing hydroxyl, carbonyl and carboxylic acid moieties. The time profiles of these products suggest that their formation can imply radical pathways. These high molecular weight organic products are certainly responsible for the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) observed during the nebulization experiments. The size, number and mass concentration of these particles increased significantly with the reaction time: after 22 h of reaction, the aerosol mass concentration was about three orders of magnitude higher than the initial aerosol quantity. The evaluated SOA yield ranged from 2 to 12%. These yields were confirmed by another estimation method based on the hygroscopic and volatility properties of the obtained SOA measured and reported by Michaud et al. (2009). These results provide, for the first time to our knowledge, strong experimental evidence that cloud processes can act, through photooxidation reactions, as important contributors to secondary organic aerosol formation in the troposphere.

Heterogeneous reactions between organic films, taken as proxies for atmospheric aerosols, with ozone in presence of simulated sunlight and the photosensitizer 4-carboxybenzophenone (4-CB) were observed to alter surface properties as monitored by contact angle during the reaction. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) was used in addition for product identification. Two types of model surfaces were systematically studied: 4-CB/4-phenoxyphenol and 4-CB/catechol. Solid organic films made of 4-CB/catechol were observed to become hydrophilic by simultaneous exposure to ozone and simulated sunlight, whereas organic films made of 4-CB/4-phenoxyphenol become hydrophobic under the same conditions. These changes in contact angle indicate that photo-induced aging processes involving ozone (such as oligomerisation) not necessarily favour increased hygroscopicity of organic aerosols in the atmosphere. The ratio between hydrophobic and hydrophilic functional groups should reflect the chemical property of organic films with respect to wettability phenomena. Contact angles and surface tensions of the exposed organic film made of 4-CB/4-phenoxyphenol were found to correspond to the hydrophobic/hydrophilic ratios obtained from the FTIR-ATR spectra.

In this study for the first time it has been shown that pyruvic acid can affect the atmospheric multiphase reactions of ozone with oxalic acid due to its properties as a photosensitizer. To this end, the photochemical batch multiphase reactions of a mixture of pyruvic acid/oxalic acid (PA/OA) and gas-phase ozone under simulated sunlight were studied as a function of time using high pressure liquid chromatography equipped with a UV detector (HPLC-UV) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) to investigate product formation. Following the simultaneous ozone and light irradiation the first peak for pyruvic and oxalic acids (retention time = 3.68 min) decreased to 67% of the initial intensity after a 12 h reaction while a broad and not well defined peak appeared at longer retention times. After prolonged exposure times this broad peak shifted to shorter retention times: from 14 min at 2 h reaction to 8 min at 12 h. The HPLC-UV analysis of the reaction mixture simultaneously exposed to ozone and irradiated by simulated sunlight for 6-12 h revealed the presence of high weight molecular mass products and formation at longer times of highly non-polar products. The results obtained from ESI-MS have clearly demonstrated that the distribution of high molecular weight products is consistent with an oligomer system. No evidence of oligomer formation was found after the sample (PA/OA) was exposed only to either ozone or irradiated with UV/Vis light using the same instrumental conditions.

Abstract. The photooxidation of methacrolein was studied in the aqueous phase under simulated cloud droplet conditions. The obtained rate constant of OH-oxidation of methacrolein at 6°C in unbuffered solutions was 5.8(±0.9)×109 M−1 s−1. The measured rate coefficient is consistent with OH-addition on the C=C bond. This was confirmed by the mechanism established on the study of the reaction products (at 25°C in unbuffered solutions) where methylglyoxal, formaldehyde, hydroxyacetone and acetic acid/acetate were the main reaction products. An upper limit for the total carbon yield was estimated to range from 53 to 85%, indicating that some reaction products remain unidentified. A possible source of this mismatch is the formation of higher molecular weight compounds as primary reaction products which are presented in El Haddad et al. (2009) and Michaud et al. (2009).

Abstract. In this work we have quantitatively measured the degradation of 4-phenoxyphenol adsorbed on silica particles following oxidative processing by gas-phase ozone. This was performed under dark conditions and in the presence of 4-carboxybenzophenone under simulated sunlight irradiation of the particles surface. At the mixing ratio of 60 ppb which corresponds to strongly polluted ozone areas, the first order of decay of 4-phenoxyphenol is k1=9.95×10−6 s−1. At a very high ozone mixing ratio of 6 ppm the first order rate constants for 4-phenoxyphenol degradation were the following: k1=2.86×10−5 s−1 under dark conditions and k1=5.58×10−5 s−1 in the presence of photosensitizer (4-carboxybenzophenone) under light illumination of the particles surface. In both cases, the experimental data follow the modified Langmuir-Hinshelwood equation for surface reactions. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood and Langmuir-Rideal mechanisms for bimolecular surface reactions are also discussed along with the experimental results. Most importantly, the quantities of the oligomers such as 2-(4-Phenoxyphenoxy)-4-phenoxyphenol and 4-[4-(4-Phenoxyphenoxy)phenoxy]phenol formed during the heterogeneous ozonolysis of adsorbed 4-phenoxyphenol were much higher under solar light irradiation of the surface in comparison to the dark conditions.