Sulphuric acid aerosols in low oxygen environments

Martin B. Enghoff; Nir J. Shaviv; Henrik Svensmark

doi:10.1016/j.jaerosci.2022.105956

Sulphuric acid aerosols in low oxygen environments

Martin B. Enghoff^*, Nir J. Shaviv, Henrik Svensmark

^*Corresponding author for this work

Racah Institute of Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Experiments on sulphuric acid nucleation in low oxygen atmospheres were done in order to investigate the role of nucleation in the Archean atmosphere. Nucleation initiated by photolysis of SO₂ and subsequent reaction between atomic O and SO₂ was measured with a PSM and a separate CPC. The parameters were <10 ppm O₂ with varying levels of SO₂ (4 levels from 40 to 105 ppb), RH (3 levels from 0 to 51%), UV light (254 nm, 4 levels from 55 to 100% power), and ionization (2 levels: Background (∼3 cm⁻³ s⁻¹) and increased w. gamma sources (∼42 cm⁻³ s⁻¹)). We find that nucleation is possible under these conditions and that the measured formation rates correlate positively with all varied parameters. This suggests that the sulphuric acid nucleation system could have played a role in the Archean atmosphere.

Original language	American English
Article number	105956
Journal	Journal of Aerosol Science
Volume	162
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaerosci.2022.105956
State	Published - May 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank Sebastian Danielache and Matthew S. Johnson for insightful conversations and help in understanding the sulphur chemistry. NJS thanks the generous support of the Israel Ministry of Energy . We thank the Kurt J. Lesker company for use of the drawing in Fig. 1 .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)

Keywords

Archean atmosphere
Ionization
Low oxygen
Nucleation
Relative humidity
Sulphuric acid
UV

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10.1016/j.jaerosci.2022.105956

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title = "Sulphuric acid aerosols in low oxygen environments",

abstract = "Experiments on sulphuric acid nucleation in low oxygen atmospheres were done in order to investigate the role of nucleation in the Archean atmosphere. Nucleation initiated by photolysis of SO2 and subsequent reaction between atomic O and SO2 was measured with a PSM and a separate CPC. The parameters were <10 ppm O2 with varying levels of SO2 (4 levels from 40 to 105 ppb), RH (3 levels from 0 to 51%), UV light (254 nm, 4 levels from 55 to 100% power), and ionization (2 levels: Background (∼3 cm−3 s−1) and increased w. gamma sources (∼42 cm−3 s−1)). We find that nucleation is possible under these conditions and that the measured formation rates correlate positively with all varied parameters. This suggests that the sulphuric acid nucleation system could have played a role in the Archean atmosphere.",

keywords = "Archean atmosphere, Ionization, Low oxygen, Nucleation, Relative humidity, Sulphuric acid, UV",

author = "Enghoff, {Martin B.} and Shaviv, {Nir J.} and Henrik Svensmark",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Sebastian Danielache and Matthew S. Johnson for insightful conversations and help in understanding the sulphur chemistry. NJS thanks the generous support of the Israel Ministry of Energy . We thank the Kurt J. Lesker company for use of the drawing in Fig. 1 . Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Author(s)",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jaerosci.2022.105956",

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journal = "Journal of Aerosol Science",

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AU - Enghoff, Martin B.

AU - Shaviv, Nir J.

AU - Svensmark, Henrik

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Sebastian Danielache and Matthew S. Johnson for insightful conversations and help in understanding the sulphur chemistry. NJS thanks the generous support of the Israel Ministry of Energy . We thank the Kurt J. Lesker company for use of the drawing in Fig. 1 . Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)

PY - 2022/5

Y1 - 2022/5

N2 - Experiments on sulphuric acid nucleation in low oxygen atmospheres were done in order to investigate the role of nucleation in the Archean atmosphere. Nucleation initiated by photolysis of SO2 and subsequent reaction between atomic O and SO2 was measured with a PSM and a separate CPC. The parameters were <10 ppm O2 with varying levels of SO2 (4 levels from 40 to 105 ppb), RH (3 levels from 0 to 51%), UV light (254 nm, 4 levels from 55 to 100% power), and ionization (2 levels: Background (∼3 cm−3 s−1) and increased w. gamma sources (∼42 cm−3 s−1)). We find that nucleation is possible under these conditions and that the measured formation rates correlate positively with all varied parameters. This suggests that the sulphuric acid nucleation system could have played a role in the Archean atmosphere.

AB - Experiments on sulphuric acid nucleation in low oxygen atmospheres were done in order to investigate the role of nucleation in the Archean atmosphere. Nucleation initiated by photolysis of SO2 and subsequent reaction between atomic O and SO2 was measured with a PSM and a separate CPC. The parameters were <10 ppm O2 with varying levels of SO2 (4 levels from 40 to 105 ppb), RH (3 levels from 0 to 51%), UV light (254 nm, 4 levels from 55 to 100% power), and ionization (2 levels: Background (∼3 cm−3 s−1) and increased w. gamma sources (∼42 cm−3 s−1)). We find that nucleation is possible under these conditions and that the measured formation rates correlate positively with all varied parameters. This suggests that the sulphuric acid nucleation system could have played a role in the Archean atmosphere.

KW - Archean atmosphere

KW - Ionization

KW - Low oxygen

KW - Nucleation

KW - Relative humidity

KW - Sulphuric acid

KW - UV

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U2 - 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2022.105956

DO - 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2022.105956

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85123836930

SN - 0021-8502

VL - 162

JO - Journal of Aerosol Science

JF - Journal of Aerosol Science

M1 - 105956

ER -

Sulphuric acid aerosols in low oxygen environments

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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