Descrizione del progetto
Capire la pressione che le particelle minuscole subiscono e in che modo influisce sul loro sviluppo
L’aria che respiriamo contiene milioni di particelle solide e goccioline liquide. Dal polline alla cenere vulcanica al sale marino, gli aerosol sono onnipresenti. Che siano naturali o prodotti dall’uomo, gli aerosol hanno un impatto importante sul clima, in gran parte attraverso gli effetti sulla formazione di nubi e l’assorbimento o il riflesso dell’energia solare. Tuttavia, rappresentano una delle maggiori fonti di incertezza nei modelli climatici. Il progetto MAARvEL, finanziato dall’UE, si concentra sulle particelle più piccole e sugli effetti della pressione di Laplace su formazione, distribuzione e proprietà. Ad oggi questo sistema non è stato affatto studiato. La sua comprensione migliorerà la precisione dei modelli climatici, portando a un maggiore potere predittivo e a una maggiore capacità di affrontare una delle più grandi sfide del secolo.
Obiettivo
Fine aerosol particles are ubiquitous in the atmosphere and have important impacts on climate change and air quality. Organic compounds represent the largest mass fraction of fine particulate matter and their formation is believed to occur through the condensation of oxygenated volatile organic compounds. However, a fundamental physicochemical property of atmospheric aerosols – the Laplace pressure – has never been studied. This “missing” property is expected to have major implications for atmospheric chemistry and may explain the current gaps between ambient observations and modelling studies when evaluating the formation rates, ambient concentrations and the spatial distribution of atmospheric nanoparticles. Hence, my project aims at elucidating the key processes driven by the Laplace pressure in atmospheric aerosols and how they impact on the growth, evolution and physicochemical properties of submicron particles. MAARvEL focuses on the smallest particles, where the Laplace pressure is expected to have the greatest impact. By exploiting recent instrumental developments and using state-of-the-art mass spectrometry techniques, MAARvEL will provide an unequalled understanding of the processes occurring within the particles. Innovative laboratory experiments will be performed to discover the central role of the Laplace pressure for; (i) condensed-phase reactions, (ii) photochemical processes, and (iii) physicochemical properties of submicron particles. A strong emphasis will be placed on quantifying the extent to which chemical processes govern the growth and evolution of atmospheric nanometre-sized particles. By revealing how the Laplace pressure controls particle phase chemistry, MAARvEL will provide a major breakthrough to support more accurate predictions of the formation and evolution of atmospheric nanoparticles, thereby decreasing the uncertainties in assessing the magnitude of aerosol effects on climate.
Campo scientifico
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryvolatile organic compounds
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringair pollution engineering
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- natural scienceschemical sciencesanalytical chemistrymass spectrometry
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-STG - Starting GrantIstituzione ospitante
75794 Paris
Francia