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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (16 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Irvine Previously Published Works (1998)
    Cover page: An upper limit on the production of N <sub>2</sub> O from the reaction of O(¹D) With CO <sub>2</sub> in the presence of N <sub>2</sub>
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2017)

    Rationale

    Ambient ionization mass spectrometry methods are convenient, sensitive and require little sample preparation. However, they are susceptible to species present in air surrounding the mass spectrometer. This study identifies some challenges associated with the potential impacts of indoor air contaminants on ionization and analysis involving open-air methods.

    Methods

    Unexpected effects of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from floor maintenance activities on ambient ionization mass spectrometry were studied using three different ambient ionization techniques. Extractive electrospray ionization (EESI), direct analysis in real time (DART) and ionization by piezoelectric direct discharge (PDD) plasma were demonstrated in this study to be affected by indoor air contaminants. Identification of contaminant vapors was verified by comparison with standards using EESI-MS/MS product ion scans.

    Results

    Emissions of diethylene glycol monoethyl ether and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether are identified from floor stripping and waxing solutions using three ambient ionization mass spectrometry techniques. These unexpected indoor air contaminants are capable of more than 75% ion suppression of target analytes due to their high volatility, proton affinity and solubility compared with the target analytes. The contaminant vapors are also shown to form adducts with one of the target analytes.

    Conclusions

    The common practice in MS analysis of subtracting a background air spectrum may not be appropriate if the presence of ionizable air contaminants alters the spectrum in unexpected ways. For example, VOCs released into air from floor stripping and waxing are capable of causing ion suppression of target analytes.
      Cover page: A cautionary note on the effects of laboratory air contaminants on ambient ionization mass spectrometry measurements
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2019)
      Ambient ionization processes are becoming more widely used for the measurement of atmospherically relevant particles and gases. We report here ambient ionization mass spectra utilizing a commercial tincture of iodine and a piezoelectric discharge gun (PDG) to generate the ionizing reagents. Analytes include Cl2, Br2, HNO3, the C1-C9 series of saturated monocarboxylic acids, benzoic acid, 2,2-dimethylpropanoic acid, 9-decenoic acid, and trichloroacetic acid. While Cl2 and Br2 form the [M + I]- iodide adducts, HNO3 and the organic acids show unexpected peaks corresponding to [2M - 2H + I]-. For HNO3, the new ion formed is interpreted as the [NO3-···IONO2] complex, where IONO2 is likely formed upon reaction of HOI with gaseous NO3-. Similarly, for the organic acids, the [2M - 2H + I]- peaks are interpreted as [RC(O)O-···IOC(O)R] complexes formed by association of RC(O)O- with acyl hypoiodites [RC(O)OI]. It is proposed that the association of (1) Cl2 and Br2 with I-, (2) IONO2 with NO3- ions, and (3) RC(O)OI with carboxylate ions occurs via non-covalent halogen bonding. The results suggest the possibility that halogen bonding may play a role in chemical transformations in the atmosphere, particularly in particles where concentrations of iodinated species may be significant.
        Cover page: Role of Gas-Phase Halogen Bonding in Ambient Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry Utilizing Iodine
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2014)

        Airborne particles are important for public health, visibility, and climate. Predicting their concentrations, effects, and responses to control strategies requires accurate models of their formation and growth in air. This is challenging, as a large fraction is formed by complex reactions of volatile organic compounds, generating secondary organic aerosol (SOA), which grows to sizes important for visibility, climate, and deposition in the lung. Growth of SOA is particularly sensitive to the phase/viscosity of the particles and remains poorly understood. We report studies using a custom-designed impactor with a germanium crystal as the impaction surface to study SOA formed from the ozonolysis of α-pinene at relative humidities (RHs) up to 87% at 297 ± 2 K (which corresponds to a maximum RH of 70-86% inside the impactor). The impaction patterns provide insight into changes in phase/viscosity as a function of RH. Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and aerosol mass spectrometry provide simultaneous information on composition changes with RH. The results show that as the RH at which the SOA is formed increases, there is a decrease in viscosity, accompanied by an increasing contribution from carboxylic acids and a decreasing contribution from higher molecular mass products. In contrast, SOA that is formed dry and subsequently humidified remains solid to high RH. The results of these studies have significant implications for modeling the growth, aging, and ultimately, lifetime of SOA in the atmosphere.

          Cover page: Integrating phase and composition of secondary organic aerosol from the ozonolysis of α-pinene.
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2023)
          Organic peroxides are key intermediates in the atmosphere but are challenging to detect, especially in the particle phase, due to their instability, which has led to substantial gaps in the understanding of their environmental effects. We demonstrate that matrix-assisted ionization in vacuum (MAIV) mass spectrometry (MS), which does not require an ionization source, enables in situ characterization of peroxides and other products in the surface layers of organic particles. Hydroxyl radical oxidation of glutaric acid particles yields hydroperoxides and organic peroxides, which were detected with signals of the same order of magnitude as the major, more stable products. Product identification is supported by MS/MS analysis, peroxide standards, and offline high-resolution MS. The peroxide signals relative to the stable carbonyl and alcohol products are significantly larger using MAIV compared to those in the offline bulk analysis. This is also the case for analysis using fast, online easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry. These studies demonstrate the advantage of MAIV for the real-time characterization of labile peroxides in the surface layers of solid particles. The presence of peroxides on the surface may be important for surface oxidation processes as well as for the toxicity of inhaled particles.
            Cover page: Peroxides on the Surface of Organic Aerosol Particles Using Matrix-Assisted Ionization in Vacuum (MAIV) Mass Spectrometry
            • Article
            • Peer Reviewed
            UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2014)

            Airborne particles are important for public health, visibility, and climate. Predicting their concentrations, effects, and responses to control strategies requires accurate models of their formation and growth in air. This is challenging, as a large fraction is formed by complex reactions of volatile organic compounds, generating secondary organic aerosol (SOA), which grows to sizes important for visibility, climate, and deposition in the lung. Growth of SOA is particularly sensitive to the phase/viscosity of the particles and remains poorly understood. We report studies using a custom-designed impactor with a germanium crystal as the impaction surface to study SOA formed from the ozonolysis of α-pinene at relative humidities (RHs) up to 87% at 297 ± 2 K (which corresponds to a maximum RH of 70-86% inside the impactor). The impaction patterns provide insight into changes in phase/viscosity as a function of RH. Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and aerosol mass spectrometry provide simultaneous information on composition changes with RH. The results show that as the RH at which the SOA is formed increases, there is a decrease in viscosity, accompanied by an increasing contribution from carboxylic acids and a decreasing contribution from higher molecular mass products. In contrast, SOA that is formed dry and subsequently humidified remains solid to high RH. The results of these studies have significant implications for modeling the growth, aging, and ultimately, lifetime of SOA in the atmosphere.

              Cover page: Integrating phase and composition of secondary organic aerosol from the ozonolysis of α-pinene.
              • Article
              • Peer Reviewed
              UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2024)
              Emerging contaminants (EC) distributed on surfaces in the environment can be oxidized by gas phase species (top-down) or by oxidants generated by the underlying substrate (bottom-up). One class of EC is the neonicotinoid (NN) pesticides that are widely distributed in air, water, and on plant and soil surfaces as well as on airborne dust and building materials. This study investigates the OH oxidation of the systemic NN pesticide acetamiprid (ACM) at room temperature. ACM on particles and as thin films on solid substrates were oxidized by OH radicals either from the gas phase or from an underlying TiO2 or NaNO2 substrate, and for comparison, in the aqueous phase. The site of OH attack is both the secondary >CH2 group as well as the primary -CH3 group attached to the tertiary amine nitrogen, with the latter dominating. In the case of top-down oxidation of ACM by gas phase OH radicals, addition to the -CN group also occurs. Major products are carbonyls and alcohols, but in the presence of sufficient water, their hydrolyzed products dominate. Kinetics measurements show ACM is more reactive toward gas phase OH radicals than other NN nitroguanidines, with an atmospheric lifetime of a few days. Bottom-up oxidation of ACM on TiO2 exposed to sunlight outdoors (temperatures were above 30 °C) was also shown to occur and is likely to be competitive with top-down oxidation. These findings highlight the different potential oxidation processes for EC and provide key data for assessing their environmental fates and toxicologies.
                Cover page: Top–down versus bottom–up oxidation of a neonicotinoid pesticide by OH radicals
                • Article
                • Peer Reviewed
                UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2020)
                Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles are ubiquitous in air and understanding the mechanism by which they grow is critical for predicting their effects on visibility and climate. The uptake of three organic nitrates into semi-solid SOA particles formed by α-pinene ozonolysis either with or without an OH scavenger was investigated. Four types of experiments are presented here. In Series A, uptake of the selected organic nitrates (2-ethylhexyl nitrate (2EHN); β-hydroxypropyl nitrate (HPN); β-hydroxyhexyl nitrate (HHN)) into impacted SOA particles was interrogated by attenuated total reflectance (ATR)-FTIR. In this case, equilibrium was reached and partition coefficients (KSOA = [-ONO2]SOA/[-ONO2]air) were measured to be K2EHN = (3.2-11) × 104, KHPN = (4.4-5.4) × 105, and KHHN = (4.9-9.0) × 106. In Series B, SOA particles were exposed on-the-fly to gas phase organic nitrates for comparison to Series A, and uptake of organic nitrates was quantified by HR-ToF-AMS analysis, which yielded similar results. In Series C (AMS) and D (ATR-FTIR), each organic nitrate was incorporated into the SOA as the particles formed and grew. The incorporation of the RONO2 was much larger in Series C and D (during growth), exceeding equilibrium values determined in Series A and B (after growth). This suggests that enhanced uptake of organic nitrates during SOA formation and growth is due to a kinetically controlled "burying" mechanism, rather than equilibrium partitioning. This has important implications for understanding SOA formation and growth under conditions where the particles are semi-solid, which is central to accurately predicting properties for such SOA.
                  Cover page: Evidence for a kinetically controlled burying mechanism for growth of high viscosity secondary organic aerosolCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
                  • Article
                  • Peer Reviewed
                  UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2015)
                  Ozonolysis of alkenes is an important source of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in the atmosphere. However, the mechanisms by which stabilized Criegee intermediates (SCI) react to form and grow the particles, and in particular the contributions from oligomers, are not well understood. In this study, ozonolysis of trans-3-hexene (C6H12), as a proxy for small alkenes, was investigated with an emphasis on the mechanisms of particle formation and growth. Ozonolysis experiments were carried out both in static Teflon chambers (18-20 min reaction times) and in a glass flow reactor (24 s reaction time) in the absence and presence of OH or SCI scavengers, and under different relative humidity (RH) conditions. The chemical composition of polydisperse and size-selected SOA particles was probed using different mass spectrometric techniques and infrared spectroscopy. Oligomers having SCI as the chain unit are found to be the dominant components of such SOA particles. The formation mechanism for these oligomers suggested by our results follows the sequential addition of SCI to organic peroxy (RO2) radicals, in agreement with previous studies by Moortgat and coworkers. Smaller particles are shown to have a relatively greater contribution from longer oligomers. Higher O/C ratios are observed in smaller particles and are similar to those of oligomers resulting from RO2 + nSCI, supporting a significant role for longer oligomers in particle nucleation and early growth. Under atmospherically relevant RH of 30-80%, water vapor suppresses oligomer formation through scavenging SCI, but also enhances particle nucleation. Under humid conditions, or in the presence of formic or hydrochloric acid as SCI scavengers, peroxyhemiacetals are formed by the acid-catalyzed particle phase reaction between oligomers from RO2 + nSCI and a trans-3-hexene derived carbonyl product. In contrast to the ozonolysis of trans-3-hexene, oligomerization involving RO2 + nSCI does not appear to be prevalent in the ozonolysis of α-cedrene (C15H24), indicating different particle formation mechanisms for small and large complex alkenes that need to be taken into account in atmospheric models.
                    Cover page: Role of the reaction of stabilized Criegee intermediates with peroxy radicals in particle formation and growth in airCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
                    • Article
                    • Peer Reviewed
                    UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2020)
                    Airborne particles have significant impacts on health, visibility, and climate. Here, an overview of what is known about particle chemical composition is presented, along with open questions and challenges that are central to relating composition to life cycles and impacts.
                      Cover page: Open questions on the chemical composition of airborne particlesCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
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