Projektbeschreibung
Untersuchung der Grenzflächen-Chemie von Aerosolen
Aerosole und Wolken sind wichtige Bestandteile des atmosphärischen Systems. Diese kleinen, in der Luft schwebenden Partikel mit Durchmessern von einigen Nanometern bis zu einigen zehn Mikrometern verändern die chemische Zusammensetzung der Troposphäre, beeinflussen das Klima und wirken sich negativ auf die menschliche Gesundheit aus. Trotz ihrer Bedeutung ist das Wissen über ihre komplexe Chemie nach wie vor gering. Neuere Forschungen haben gezeigt, dass die lokale Ausrichtung von Wassermolekülen an der Luft-Wasser-Grenzfläche zur spontanen Bildung von Oxidantien an mikroskopisch kleinen Tröpfchen führt. Das EU-finanzierte Projekt SOFA zielt darauf ab, die Bildung dieser spontan erzeugten atmosphärischen Oxidantien zu untersuchen und zu quantifizieren, ein Phänomen, das als allgegenwärtig in der Troposphäre gilt. Im Rahmen des Projekts werden experimentelle Messungen, Feldmessungen und numerische Modellierung kombiniert.
Ziel
Aerosols and clouds are key players in tropospheric chemistry. These tiny particles suspended in the air, with a radius ranging from a few nanometres to tens of micrometres, impact atmospheric composition, represent one of the largest uncertainties in climatic projections and cause millions of deaths worldwide every year. Hence, they have enormous societal and economic consequences. Nonetheless, there is still a knowledge gap preventing us from describing the chemical evolution of aerosols and clouds during their atmospheric lifetime. Supported by preliminary experiments, I therefore propose to unravel the impact of the spontaneous oxidant formation at the air/liquid interface as a key driver for multiphase oxidation processes.
Water molecules in bulk liquid are stable and inert under ambient conditions. In sharp contrast, it was very recently shown that the local orientation of water molecules at an air/water interface induces an electric field that generates spontaneous radicals in micron-sized droplets. This production does not involve any catalysts such as light or heat. It is an intrinsic property of the air/water interface, and therefore potentially ubiquitous in the troposphere.
This spontaneous interfacial oxidant formation has never been explored for its atmospheric significance. Therefore, the SOFA project aims to unravel the atmospheric importance of this interfacial (dark) chemistry. If oxidants (including OH radicals) are in fact spontaneously produced at the air-water interface, under atmospherically relevant concentrations, this would profoundly challenge our understanding and description of atmospheric multiphase chemistry.
SOFA will develop a novel strategy, scaling up from laboratory-based measurements to fieldwork and modelling to assess the importance of this interfacial chemistry. SOFA will advance an entirely new perspective on how to address the multiphase oxidation capacity of the troposphere, and will therefore have a wide impact.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
Schlüsselbegriffe
Programm/Programme
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Thema/Themen
Finanzierungsplan
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsGastgebende Einrichtung
75794 Paris
Frankreich