Ionic-Strength Effects on the Reactive Uptake of Ozone on Aqueous Pyruvic Acid: Implications for Air-Sea Ozone Deposition

Environ Sci Technol. 2018 Nov 6;52(21):12306-12315. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.8b03196. Epub 2018 Oct 17.

Abstract

A vertical wetted-wall flow-tube technique was used to explore the ionic strength effects at the air-water interface in mediating the sea-surface reaction between ozone (O3) and pyruvic acid (PA). The uptake coefficients of ozone on aqueous PA increase substantially with the concentrations of bromide (Br-) ions, clearly indicating that the dry deposition of ozone could be significantly enhanced due to the presence of carbonyl compounds such as PA at the bromide-rich sea surface. Based on the observed uptake coefficients, the estimated deposition velocity of ozone (100 ppb) for a nanomolar range of PA concentrations is ∼1 × 10-3 m s-1, which represents a significant contribution to the known deposition velocity of ozone at the sea surface. The analysis of reaction products by ultra-high-resolution Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry suggests the formation of oligomers during both the dark and light-induced heterogeneous reactions between gaseous O3 and PA occurring at the surface of a dilute aqueous phase (representative of cloud droplets). The detected high-molecular-weight compounds are much more complex than the oligomeric species identified during the photolytic degradation of bulk aqueous PA alone.

MeSH terms

  • Bromides
  • Osmolar Concentration
  • Ozone*
  • Pyruvic Acid
  • Water

Substances

  • Bromides
  • Water
  • Ozone
  • Pyruvic Acid