Secondary organic aerosol formation from toluene photooxidation under various NO_x conditions and particle acidity

Abstract. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from photooxidation of toluene is studied using a 2 m³ indoor Teflon film chamber under three different NO_x conditions: low (≤3 ppb), intermediate (90–105 ppb) and high (280–315 ppb). SOA experiments are conducted in the presence of either neutral or acidic sulfate seed aerosols under two different humidity levels (%RH 15–22 or 38–49). NO_x concentrations in the chamber air affect not only SOA yields but also SOA growth described by the organic mass (OM) produced as a function of the toluene concentration consumed over the course of a single SOA experiment. The particle acidity effect on toluene SOA formation varies with NO_x concentrations. For the low and the intermediate NO_x experiments, SOA yields with acidic sulfate seed considerably increase by: 36%–115% at low %RH and 25–44% at high %RH compared to those with neutral seed. No significant particle acidity effect is observed for the high NO_x experiments. The humidity effect on SOA formation is also different at the three NO_x levels. For the low NO_x experiments, SOA yields are 29%–34% lower at high %RH than those at low %RH in the presence of either neutral or acidic sulfate seed. For the intermediate NO_x experiments, SOA yields at high %RH increase by 39% in the presence of neutral seed but slightly decrease by 7% in the presence of acidic sulfate seed compared to those at low %RH. For the high NO_x experiments with a high NO fraction, no significant humidity effect on SOA yields is found with both neutral and acidic sulfate seeds.