Extended mechanisms for the oxidation of aromatics in the atmosphere

• Applicant: Luc Vereecken, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Atmospheric Science
• Term: from 2012 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 221914986

Aromatic compounds such as benzene and toluene are emitted into the atmosphere mostly from anthropogenic sources. These compounds were shown to have a large impact on the formation of ozone in the lower atmosphere, and on the formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) which are both implicated directly in air quality and health issues, and as actors in global climate change. Relative to their source strengths, the aromatics have large ozone and SOA formation potential, yet their chemical degradation and transformation pathways in the atmosphere are only partially known. We propose to investigate the explicit chemical degradation mechanisms involved in the oxidation of some of the main aromatics, using an interdisciplinary approach combining quantum chemical structure calculations, theoretical kinetic analyses, chemical kinetic mechanism development, kinetic modelling, and environmental chamber studies. The resulting explicit kinetic mechanism describes the fate of the aromatic compound in the atmosphere across a wide range of reaction conditions. These complex mechanisms can then be incorporated, directly or in a reduced form, into larger atmospheric models describing the evolution of the atmosphere, to assess the impact of the aromatics with respect to air quality and climate change.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants