Particle number size distributions were simultaneously measured at the Guangzhou (GZ) urban site (23.13 degrees N, 113.26 degrees E) and the Back-garden (BG) rural site (23.5 degrees N, 113.03 degrees E) in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in July, 2006. It provided new findings into the evolution of particle number size distribution and new particle formation (NPF) in two different environments. Number concentration of particles (20 nm-10 mu m diameter) at GZ was about 70% higher than at BG and significantly affected by traffic emission. However, number concentrations of the regional aerosols (100-660 nm) were (6 +/- 3) x 10(3) cm(-3) at both sites. At BG, the diurnal variation of particle number size distributions showed an obvious particle growth process beginning at about 9:00 (LT), probably caused by NPF. In contrast, particle number concentrations in the size rages of 20-45 nm, 45-100 nm, and 100-660 nm showed similar trends with two main peaks at about 12:00 (LT) and 19:00 (LT) at GZ. NPF events were observed at both sites, but the occurrence frequency at GZ was about 50% lower than at BG. Regional NPF events at both sites probably in the same air mass were simultaneously observed with similar growth rates, concentrations and production rates of the condensable vapors, and condensational sinks on July 6. On the whole, deceasing traffic emission will improve air quality efficiently in the aspect of particle number concentration and fine particulate pollution in the summer of PRD should be controlled in a regional scale, especially with stagnant air mass from South China Sea. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Particle number size distributions were simultaneously measured at the Guangzhou (GZ) urban site (23.13 degrees N, 113.26 degrees E) and the Back-garden (BG) rural site (23.5 degrees N, 113.03 degrees E) in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in July, 2006. It provided new findings into the evolution of particle number size distribution and new particle formation (NPF) in two different environments. Number concentration of particles (20 nm-10 mu m diameter) at GZ was about 70% higher than at BG and significantly affected by traffic emission. However, number concentrations of the regional aerosols (100-660 nm) were (6 +/- 3) x 10(3) cm(-3) at both sites. At BG, the diurnal variation of particle number size distributions showed an obvious particle growth process beginning at about 9:00 (LT), probably caused by NPF. In contrast, particle number concentrations in the size rages of 20-45 nm, 45-100 nm, and 100-660 nm showed similar trends with two main peaks at about 12:00 (LT) and 19:00 (LT) at GZ. NPF events were observed at both sites, but the occurrence frequency at GZ was about 50% lower than at BG. Regional NPF events at both sites probably in the same air mass were simultaneously observed with similar growth rates, concentrations and production rates of the condensable vapors, and condensational sinks on July 6. On the whole, deceasing traffic emission will improve air quality efficiently in the aspect of particle number concentration and fine particulate pollution in the summer of PRD should be controlled in a regional scale, especially with stagnant air mass from South China Sea. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Particle number size distributions were simultaneously measured at the Guangzhou (GZ) urban site (23.13 degrees N, 113.26 degrees E) and the Back-garden (BG) rural site (23.5 degrees N, 113.03 degrees E) in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in July, 2006. It provided new findings into the evolution of particle number size distribution and new particle formation (NPF) in two different environments. Number concentration of particles (20 nm-10 mu m diameter) at GZ was about 70% higher than at BG and significantly affected by traffic emission. However, number concentrations of the regional aerosols (100-660 nm) were (6 +/- 3) x 10(3) cm(-3) at both sites. At BG, the diurnal variation of particle number size distributions showed an obvious particle growth process beginning at about 9:00 (LT), probably caused by NPF. In contrast, particle number concentrations in the size rages of 20-45 nm, 45-100 nm, and 100-660 nm showed similar trends with two main peaks at about 12:00 (LT) and 19:00 (LT) at GZ. NPF events were observed at both sites, but the occurrence frequency at GZ was about 50% lower than at BG. Regional NPF events at both sites probably in the same air mass were simultaneously observed with similar growth rates, concentrations and production rates of the condensable vapors, and condensational sinks on July 6. On the whole, deceasing traffic emission will improve air quality efficiently in the aspect of particle number concentration and fine particulate pollution in the summer of PRD should be controlled in a regional scale, especially with stagnant air mass from South China Sea. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
To predict the fate of aqueous pollutants, a better understanding of heterogeneous Fe(III) (hydr)oxide nucleation and growth on abundant mineral surfaces is needed. In this study, we measured in situ heterogeneous Fe(III) (hydr)oxide nucleation and growth on quartz, muscovite, and corundum (Al2O3) in 10–4 M Fe(III) solution (in 10 mM NaNO3 at pH = 3.7 ± 0.2) using grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). Interestingly, both the fastest heterogeneous nucleation and slowest growth occurred on corundum. To elucidate the mechanisms, zeta potential and water contact angle measurements were conducted. Electrostatic forces between the charged Fe(III) (hydr)oxide polymeric embryos and substrate surfaces—which affect local saturations near the substrate surfaces—controlled heterogeneous growth rates. Water contact angles (7.5° ± 0.7, 22.8° ± 1.7, and 44.8° ± 3.7 for quartz, muscovite, and corundum, respectively) indicate that corundum has the highest substrate–water interfacial energy. Furthermore, a comparison of structural mismatches between the substrates and precipitates indicates a lowest precipitate–substrate interfacial energy for corundum. The fastest nucleation on corundum suggests that interfacial energies in the solution–substrate–precipitate system controlled heterogeneous nucleation rates. The unique information provided here bolsters our understanding of nanoparticle–mineral surface interactions, mineral surface modification by iron oxide coating, and pollutant transport.
In this letter, we discuss the increase in the average cluster size by lowering the stagnation temperature of the methane (CH4) gas. The Coulomb explosion experiments are conducted to estimate the cluster size and the size distribution. The average CH4 cluster sizes Nav of 6 230 and 6 580 are acquired with the source conditions of 30 bars at 240 K and 60 bars at 296 K, respectively. Empirical estimation suggests a five-fold increase in the average size of the CH4 clusters at 240 K compared with that at room temperature under a backing pressure of 30 bars. A strong nonlinear Hagena parameter relation (\Gamma *\propto T^{-3.3}) for the CH4 clusters is revealed. The results may be favorable for the production of large-sized clusters by using gases at low temperature and high back pressures.