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Published August 21, 2013 | Published
Journal Article Open

Secondary organic aerosol formation from biomass burning intermediates: phenol and methoxyphenols

Abstract

The formation of secondary organic aerosol from oxidation of phenol, guaiacol (2-methoxyphenol), and syringol (2,6-dimethoxyphenol), major components of biomass burning, is described. Photooxidation experiments were conducted in the Caltech laboratory chambers under low-NOₓ (< 10 ppb) conditions using H₂O₂ as the OH source. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) yields (ratio of mass of SOA formed to mass of primary organic reacted) greater than 25% are observed. Aerosol growth is rapid and linear with the primary organic conversion, consistent with the formation of essentially non-volatile products. Gas- and aerosol-phase oxidation products from the guaiacol system provide insight into the chemical mechanisms responsible for SOA formation. Syringol SOA yields are lower than those of phenol and guaiacol, likely due to novel methoxy group chemistry that leads to early fragmentation in the gas-phase photooxidation. Atomic oxygen to carbon (O : C) ratios calculated from high-resolution-time-of-flight Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) measurements of the SOA in all three systems are ~ 0.9, which represent among the highest such ratios achieved in laboratory chamber experiments and are similar to that of aged atmospheric organic aerosol. The global contribution of SOA from intermediate volatility and semivolatile organic compounds has been shown to be substantial (Pye and Seinfeld, 2010). An approach to representing SOA formation from biomass burning emissions in atmospheric models could involve one or more surrogate species for which aerosol formation under well-controlled conditions has been quantified. The present work provides data for such an approach.

Additional Information

© Author(s) 2013. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. Received: 20 January 2013; Published in Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss.: 6 February 2013 Revised: 13 June 2013; Accepted: 20 June 2013; Published: 21 August 2013. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy grants DE-FG02-05ER63983 and DE-SC 0006626 and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) STAR Research Agreement No. RD-833749.

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