Articles | Volume 20, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-4153-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-4153-2020
Research article
 | 
07 Apr 2020
Research article |  | 07 Apr 2020

Formation mechanisms of atmospheric nitrate and sulfate during the winter haze pollution periods in Beijing: gas-phase, heterogeneous and aqueous-phase chemistry

Pengfei Liu, Can Ye, Chaoyang Xue, Chenglong Zhang, Yujing Mu, and Xu Sun

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Cited articles

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Short summary
A vast area in China is currently going through severe haze episodes with drastically elevated concentrations of PM2.5 in winter. Nitrate and sulfate are main constituents of PM2.5, but their formations via NO2 and SO2 oxidation are still not comprehensively understood. Our results found that the gas-phase reaction of NO2 with OH and the heterogeneous hydrolysis of N2O5 play key roles in nitrate formation, and SO2 aqueous-phase oxidation with H2O2 rather than NO2 contributed greatly to sulfate.
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