Field measurements of atmospheric peroxides were obtained during the summer on two consecutive years over urban Beijing, which highlighted the impacts of aerosols on the chemistry of peroxide compounds and hydroperoxyl radicals (HO2). The major peroxides were determined to be hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), methyl hydroperoxide (MHP), and peroxyacetic acid (PAA). A negative correlation was found between H2O2 and PAA in rainwater, providing evidence for a conversion between H2O2 and PAA in the aqueous phase. A standard gas phase chemistry model based on the NCAR Master Mechanism provided a good reproduction of the observed H2O2 profile on non-haze days but greatly overpredicted the H2O2 level on haze days. We attribute this overprediction to the reactive uptake of HO2 by the aerosols, since there was greatly enhanced aerosol loading and aerosol liquid water content on haze days. The discrepancy between the observed and modeled H2O2 can be diminished by adding to the model a newly proposed transition metal ion catalytic mechanism of HO2 in aqueous aerosols. This confirms the importance of the aerosol uptake of HO2 and the subsequent aqueous phase reactions in the reduction of H2O2. The closure of HO2 and H2O2 between the gas and aerosol phases suggests that the aerosols do not have a net reactive uptake of H2O2, because the conversion of HO2 to H2O2 on aerosols compensates for the H2O2 loss. Laboratory studies for the aerosol uptake of H2O2 in the presence of HO2 are urgently required to better understand the aerosol uptake of H2O2 in the real atmosphere.

In this study, 121 daily PM2.5 (aerosol particle with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm) samples were collected from an urban site in Beijing in four months between April 2009 and January 2010 representing the four seasons. The samples were determined for various compositions, including elements, ions, and organic/elemental carbon. Various approaches, such as chemical mass balance, positive matrix factorization (PMF), trajectory clustering, and potential source contribution function (PSCF), were employed for characterizing aerosol speciation, identifying likely sources, and apportioning contributions from each likely source. Our results have shown distinctive seasonality for various aerosol speciations associated with PM2.5 in Beijing. Soil dust waxes in the spring and wanes in the summer. Regarding the secondary aerosol components, inorganic and organic species may behave in different manners. The former preferentially forms in the hot and humid summer via photochemical reactions, although their precursor gases, such as SO2 and NOx, are emitted much more in winter. The latter seems to favorably form in the cold and dry winter. Synoptic meteorological and climate conditions can overwhelm the emission pattern in the formation of secondary aerosols. The PMF model identified six main sources: soil dust, coal combustion, biomass burning, traffic and waste incineration emission, industrial pollution, and secondary inorganic aerosol. Each of these sources has an annual mean contribution of 16, 14, 13, 3, 28, and 26%, respectively, to PM2.5. However, the relative contributions of these identified sources significantly vary with changing seasons. The results of trajectory clustering and the PSCF method demonstrated that regional sources could be crucial contributors to PM pollution in Beijing. In conclusion, we have unraveled some complex aspects of the pollution sources and formation processes of PM2.5 in Beijing. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic study that comprehensively explores the chemical characterizations and source apportionments of PM2.5 aerosol speciation in Beijing by applying multiple approaches based on a completely seasonal perspective.

The ozonolysis of alkenes is considered to be an important source of atmospheric peroxides, which serve as oxidants, reservoirs of HOx radicals, and components of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs). Recent laboratory investigations of this reaction identified hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide (HMHP) in ozonolysis of isoprene. Although larger hydroxyalkyl hydroperoxides (HAHPs) were also expected, their presence is not currently supported by experimental evidence. In the present study, we investigated the formation of peroxides in the gas phase ozonolysis of isoprene at various relative humidities on a time scale of tens of seconds, using a quartz flow tube reactor coupled with the online detection of peroxides. We detected a variety of conventional peroxides, including H2O2, HMHP, methyl hydroperoxide, bis-hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide, and ethyl hydroperoxide, and interestingly found three unknown peroxides. The molar yields of the conventional peroxides fell within the range of values provided in the literature. The three unknown peroxides had a combined molar yield of ~30% at 5% relative humidity (RH), which was comparable with that of the conventional peroxides. Unlike H2O2 and HMHP, the molar yields of these three unknown peroxides were inversely related to the RH. On the basis of experimental kinetic and box model analysis, we tentatively assigned these unknown peroxides to C2−C4 HAHPs, which are produced by the reactions of different Criegee intermediates with water. Our study provides experimental evidence for the formation of large HAHPs in the ozonolysis of isoprene (one of the alkenes). These large HAHPs have a sufficiently long lifetime, estimated as tens of minutes, which allows them to become involved in atmospheric chemical processes, e.g., SOA formation and radical recycling.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are of central importance in the atmosphere because of their close relation to air quality and climate change. As a significant sink for VOCs, the fate of VOCs via heterogeneous reactions may explain the big gap between field and model studies. These reactions play as yet unclear but potentially crucial role in atmospheric processes. In order to better evaluate this reaction pathway, we present the first specific review for the progress of heterogeneous reaction studies on VOCs, including carbonyl compounds, organic acids, alcohols, and so on. Our review focuses on the processes for heterogeneous reactions of VOCs under varying experimental conditions, as well as their implications for trace gas and HOx budget, secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation, physicochemical properties of aerosols, and human health. Finally, we propose the future direction for laboratory studies of heterogeneous chemistry of VOCs that should be carried out under more atmospherically relevant conditions, with a special emphasis on the effects of relative humidity and illumination, the multicomponent reaction systems, and reactivity of aged and authentic particles. In particular, more reliable uptake coefficients, based on the abundant elaborate laboratory studies, appropriate calibration, and logical choice criterion, are urgently required in atmospheric models.

Atmospheric aging appears to alter physical and chemical properties of mineral dust aerosol and thus its role as reactive surface in the troposphere. Yet, previous studies in the atmosphere have mainly focused on the pristine surfaces of mineral dust aerosol, and the reactivity of aged mineral dust toward atmospheric trace gases is poorly recognized. This work presents the first laboratory investigation of heterogeneous reactions of gaseous hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), an important atmospheric oxidant, on the surfaces of HNO3 and SO2-processed calcium carbonate particles as surrogates of atmospheric mineral dust aged by acidic trace gases. It is found that the processing of the calcium carbonate particles with HNO3 and SO2 has a strong impact on their reactivity toward H2O2. On HNO3-processed particles, the presence of nitrate acts to either decrease or increase H2O2 uptake, greatly depending on RH and surface coverage of nitrate. On SO2-processed particles, the presence of surface sulfite appears to enhance the intrinsic reactivity of the mineral particles due to its affinity for H2O2, and the uptake of H2O2 increases significantly relative to the pristine particles, in particular at high RH. The mechanisms for heterogeneous reactions of H2O2 with these processed particles are discussed, as well as their potential implications on tropospheric chemistry. The results of our study suggest that the reactivity of mineral dust aerosol toward H2O2 and maybe other trace gases is markedly dependent on the chemical composition and coverage of the coatings as well as ambient RH, and thus will vary considerably in different polluted air masses.