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Molecular constraints on particle growth during new particle formation
Author(s) -
Bzdek Bryan R.,
Lawler Michael J.,
Horan Andrew J.,
Pennington M. Ross,
DePalma Joseph W.,
Zhao Jun,
Smith James N.,
Johnston Murray V.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl060160
Subject(s) - nanoparticle , organic matter , volatility (finance) , particle (ecology) , composition (language) , environmental science , chemical physics , nanotechnology , environmental chemistry , materials science , chemical engineering , chemistry , ecology , biology , organic chemistry , mathematics , econometrics , linguistics , philosophy , engineering
Abstract Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) produces large numbers of nanoparticles which can ultimately impact climate. A firm understanding of the identity and contribution of the inorganic and carbonaceous species to nanoparticle growth is required to assess the climatic importance of NPF. Here, we combine elemental and molecular nanoparticle composition measurements to better define the composition and contribution of carbonaceous matter to nanoparticle growth in a rural/coastal environment. We show that carbonaceous matter can account for more than half of the mass growth of nanoparticles and its composition is consistent with that expected for extremely low volatility organic compounds. An important novel finding is that the carbonaceous matter must contain a substantial amount of nitrogen, whose molecular identity is not fully understood. The results advance our quantitative understanding of the composition and contribution of carbonaceous matter to nanoparticle growth, which is essential to more accurately predict the climatic impacts of NPF.