UC San Diego

Phenol, a common semi-volatile compound associated with different emissions including from plants and biomass burning, as well as anthropogenic emissions and its derivatives, are important components of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs). Gas and aqueous phase reactions of phenol, in the presence of photochemical drivers, are fairly well understood. However, despite observations showing aromatic content within SOA size and mass increases during dust episodes, the heterogeneous reactions of phenol with mineral dusts are poorly understood. In the current study, surface reactions of phenol at the gas/solid interface with different components of mineral dust including SiO2, α-Fe2O3, and TiO2 have been investigated. Whereas reversible surface adsorption of phenol occurs on SiO2 surfaces, for both α-Fe2O3 and TiO2 surfaces, phenol reacts to form a wide range of OH substituted aromatic products. For α-Fe2O3 surfaces that have been nitrated by gas-phase reactions of nitric acid prior to exposure to phenol, unique compounds form on the surface including nitro-phenolic compounds. Moreover, additional surface chemistry was observed when adsorbed nitro-phenolic products were exposed to gas-phase SO2 as a result of the formation of adsorbed nitrite from nitrate redox chemistry with adsorbed SO2. Overall, this study reveals the extensive chemistry as well as the complexity of reactions of prevalent organic compounds leading to the formation of SOA on mineral surfaces.