Does sulphur dioxide react with atmospheric particulate at cloud water-air boundary

The atmospheric sulfur cycle is responsible for new particle formation and cloud condensation nuclei in the lower atmosphere. The proposal seeks to investigate if the unknown source of organo-sulfate compounds found in atmospheric aerosol is due to the reaction between gas-phase SO2 and natural surfactants found in cloud water and atmospheric aerosol at the air-water interface. The experiment will elucidate or exclude the surface reaction as a source of organic sulfate compounds in the atmosphere by measurement of kinetics and comparison to atmospheric removal processes. Real samples of atmospheric surfactants extracted from the atmosphere will be under study. The work supports a NERC grant between ISIS/RHUL and a new joint funded ISIS/RHUL PhD studentship.

大气硫循环（atmospheric sulfur cycle）负责低层大气中的新粒子生成与云凝结核（cloud condensation nuclei）形成。本研究计划旨在探究：大气气溶胶（atmospheric aerosol）中检出的有机硫酸盐化合物（organo-sulfate compounds）的未知来源，是否源于气相二氧化硫（gas-phase SO₂）与云水及大气气溶胶中的天然表面活性剂在气液界面发生的反应。本实验将通过动力学测量，并与大气去除过程进行比对，以阐明或排除气液界面反应作为大气中有机硫酸盐化合物来源的可能性。研究将采用从大气中直接提取的真实大气表面活性剂样品开展实验。本项目依托英国自然环境研究理事会（NERC）资助的ISIS/RHUL合作项目，并支持一项全新的ISIS/RHUL联合资助博士奖学金项目。