@article {17852, title = {Aerosol Liquid Water Driven by Anthropogenic Inorganic Salts: Implying Its Key Role in Haze Formation over the North China Plain}, journal = {Environmental Science \& Technology Letters}, volume = {5}, number = {3}, year = {2018}, note = {Fz5ugTimes Cited:1Cited References Count:60}, month = {Mar}, pages = {160-166}, abstract = {This study reveals aerosol liquid water content (ALWC) in PM2.5 ranged from 2\% up to 74\%, and the associated secondary inorganic fraction rose from 24\% to 55\%, while ambient relative humidity (RH) increased from 15\% to 83\% in the atmosphere over Beijing. Unexpectedly, the secondary inorganic fraction in PM2.5 increased with an increase in the ambient RH, which is a meteorological parameter independent of anthropogenic activities, indicating the presence of a feedback mechanism driven by Henry{\textquoteright}s law and thermodynamic equilibrium. During haze episodes, simultaneously elevated RH levels and anthropogenic secondary inorganic mass concentrations resulted in an abundant ALWC. The condensed water could act as an efficient medium for multiphase reactions, thereby facilitating the transformation of reactive gaseous pollutants into particles and accelerating the formation of heavy haze. ALWC was well correlated with the mass concentrations of both nitrate and sulfate, indicating both nitrate and sulfate salts play key roles in determining ALWC. Coincident with a significant reduction in SO2 emissions throughout China, nitrates will become a dominant anthropogenic inorganic salt driving ALWC. Thus, the abundance of ALWC and its effects on the aerosol chemistry and climate should be reconsidered.}, keywords = {air-mass history, aqueous particles, atmospheric aerosols, gas uptake, hygroscopic growth, n2o5 hydrolysis, reactive uptake, relative-humidity, secondary organic aerosol, united-states}, isbn = {2328-8930}, author = {ZJ Wu and Y. Wang and Tan, T. Y. and Zhu, Y. S. and Li, M. R. and Shang, D. J. and Wang, H. C. and Lu, K. D. and Guo, S. and L.M. Zeng and Zhang, Y. H.} }