Articles | Volume 22, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5651-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5651-2022
Research article
 | 
28 Apr 2022
Research article |  | 28 Apr 2022

Aqueous chemical bleaching of 4-nitrophenol brown carbon by hydroxyl radicals; products, mechanism, and light absorption

Bartłomiej Witkowski, Priyanka Jain, and Tomasz Gierczak

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Cited articles

Albinet, A., Minero, C., and Vione, D.: Phototransformation processes of 2,4-dinitrophenol, relevant to atmospheric water droplets, Chemosphere, 80, 753–758, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2010.05.016, 2010. 
Balasubramanian, P., Balamurugan, T. S. T., Chen, S.-M., and Chen, T.-W.: Simplistic synthesis of ultrafine CoMnO3 nanosheets: An excellent electrocatalyst for highly sensitive detection of toxic 4-nitrophenol in environmental water samples, J. Hazard. Mater., 361, 123–133, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.08.070, 2019. 
Barzaghi, P. and Herrmann, H.: A mechanistic study of the oxidation of phenol by OH/NO2/NO3 in aqueous solution, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 4, 3669–3675, https://doi.org/10.1039/B201652D, 2002. 
Biswal, J., Paul, J., Naik, D. B., Sarkar, S. K., and Sabharwal, S.: Radiolytic degradation of 4-nitrophenol in aqueous solutions: Pulse and steady state radiolysis study, Radiat. Phys. Chem., 85, 161–166, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2013.01.003, 2013. 
Bluvshtein, N., Lin, P., Flores, J. M., Segev, L., Mazar, Y., Tas, E., Snider, G., Weagle, C., Brown, S. S., Laskin, A., and Rudich, Y.: Broadband optical properties of biomass-burning aerosol and identification of brown carbon chromophores, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 122, 5441–5456, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026230, 2017. 
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Short summary
This article describes a comprehensive investigation of the aqueous oxidation of 4-nitrophenol (4NP) by hydroxyl radicals (OH). The reaction was carried out in a laboratory photoreactor. We report the formation of key intermediates under different pH conditions and the evolution of the light absorption of the reaction solution. The results provide new insights into the formation and removal (chemical bleaching) of light-absorbing organic aerosols (atmospheric brown carbon).
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