Articles | Volume 17, issue 14
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8923-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8923-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
25 Jul 2017
Research article |
| 25 Jul 2017
Evaporation of sulfate aerosols at low relative humidity
Georgios Tsagkogeorgas
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Pontus Roldin
Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014
Helsinki, Finland
Division of Nuclear Physics, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00
Lund, Sweden
Jonathan Duplissy
Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014
Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki Institute of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64,
00014 Helsinki, Finland
Linda Rondo
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Goethe
University Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Jasmin Tröstl
Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland
Jay G. Slowik
Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland
Sebastian Ehrhart
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Goethe
University Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
now at: Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for
Chemistry, 55128 Mainz, Germany
Alessandro Franchin
Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014
Helsinki, Finland
Andreas Kürten
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Goethe
University Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Antonio Amorim
Fac. Ciencias & CENTRA, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande,
1749–016 Lisbon, Portugal
Federico Bianchi
Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014
Helsinki, Finland
Jasper Kirkby
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Goethe
University Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
CERN, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
Tuukka Petäjä
Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014
Helsinki, Finland
Urs Baltensperger
Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland
Michael Boy
Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014
Helsinki, Finland
Joachim Curtius
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Goethe
University Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Richard C. Flagan
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Markku Kulmala
Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014
Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki Institute of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64,
00014 Helsinki, Finland
Neil M. Donahue
Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies, Carnegie Mellon University,
Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Frank Stratmann
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Abstract. Evaporation of sulfuric acid from particles can be important in the atmospheres of Earth and Venus. However, the equilibrium constant for the dissociation of H2SO4 to bisulfate ions, which is the one of the fundamental parameters controlling the evaporation of sulfur particles, is not well constrained. In this study we explore the volatility of sulfate particles at very low relative humidity. We measured the evaporation of sulfur particles versus temperature and relative humidity in the CLOUD chamber at CERN. We modelled the observed sulfur particle shrinkage with the ADCHAM model. Based on our model results, we conclude that the sulfur particle shrinkage is mainly governed by H2SO4 and potentially to some extent by SO3 evaporation. We found that the equilibrium constants for the dissociation of H2SO4 to HSO4−(KH2SO4) and the dehydration of H2SO4 to SO3 (xKSO3) are KH2SO4 = 2–4 × 109 mol kg−1 and xKSO3 ≥ 1.4 × 1010 at 288.8 ± 5 K.
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How to cite. Tsagkogeorgas, G., Roldin, P., Duplissy, J., Rondo, L., Tröstl, J., Slowik, J. G., Ehrhart, S., Franchin, A., Kürten, A., Amorim, A., Bianchi, F., Kirkby, J., Petäjä, T., Baltensperger, U., Boy, M., Curtius, J., Flagan, R. C., Kulmala, M., Donahue, N. M., and Stratmann, F.: Evaporation of sulfate aerosols at low relative humidity, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 8923–8938, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8923-2017, 2017.
Short summary
The H2SO4 vapour pressure plays key role in Earth's and Venus' atmospheres. In regions where RH is low and stabilising bases are scarce, H2SO4 can evaporate from particles; however the H2SO4 vapour pressure at low RH is uncertain. To address this, we measured H2SO4 evaporation versus T and RH in the CLOUD chamber and constrained the equilibrium constants for dissociation and dehydration of H2SO4. This study is important for nucleation, particle growth and H2SO4 formation occurring in atmosphere.
The H2SO4 vapour pressure plays key role in Earth's and Venus' atmospheres. In regions where RH...
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