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Article

Measurements of the Volatility of Aerosols from α-Pinene Ozonolysis

Supporting Info

Charles O. Stanier,*^† Ravi K. Pathak,^‡ and Spyros N. Pandis^‡^§

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Dept., University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, Chemical Engineering Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, and Chemical Engineering Department, University of Patras, Patra 26504, Greece

Environ. Sci. Technol., 2007, 41 (8), pp 2756–2763

DOI: 10.1021/es0519280

Publication Date (Web): March 14, 2007

Corresponding author phone: (319) 335-1399; fax: (319) 335-1415; e-mail: charles-stanier@uiowa.edu.

†

University of Iowa.

‡

Carnegie Mellon University.

University of Patras.

Abstract

The temperature-dependence of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) concentrations is measured using a temperature-controlled smog chamber. Aerosols are generated from reaction of α-pinene (14−150 ppb) and ozone at a constant temperature of 22 ± 2°C in the presence of the OH-scavenger 2-butanol. After the reactions are completed the chamber is heated or cooled in a range from 20 to 40 °C. SOA volume concentrations increase at temperatures below the initial formation temperature and decrease at elevated temperatures. The response to the temperature change as measured by percent mass change per degree ranged from −0.4 to −3.6% K^-1, for a total mass reduction of 5−60% upon heating from 22 to 35 °C. The reported range is due to two factors: (1) experimental uncertainty, arising mainly from uncertainty in evaporation and condensation behavior of particles lost to the chamber wall; (2) differences in the temperature response from experiment to experiment. Aerosol temperature sensitivity was also measured by tandem differential mobility analysis (TDMA) where similarly generated SOA were heated from 20 to 25 °C to 30−40 °C with residence times of 0.5−1.5 min, resulting in particle volume reductions of up to 20%. The TDMA experiments indicate that evaporation of the SOA particles in this system occurs with a potentially significant mass transfer limitation (e.g., accommodation coefficient <0.1).

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