Significant contributions of trimethylamine to sulfuric acid nucleation in polluted environments

Runlong Cai; Rujing Yin; Xue Li; Hong Bin Xie; Dongsen Yang; Veli Matti Kerminen; James N. Smith; Yan Ma; Jiming Hao; Jingwen Chen; Markku Kulmala; Jun Zheng; Jingkun Jiang; Jonas Elm

doi:10.1038/s41612-023-00405-3

Significant contributions of trimethylamine to sulfuric acid nucleation in polluted environments

Runlong Cai, Rujing Yin, Xue Li, Hong Bin Xie^*, Dongsen Yang, Veli Matti Kerminen, James N. Smith, Yan Ma, Jiming Hao, Jingwen Chen, Markku Kulmala, Jun Zheng, Jingkun Jiang^*, Jonas Elm

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Chemistry
iCLIMATE Aarhus University Interdisciplinary Centre for Climate Change - iCLIMATE Aarhus University Interdisciplinary Centre for Climate Change, Langelandsgade

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

As one of the least understood aerosol processes, nucleation can be a dominant source of atmospheric aerosols. Sulfuric acid (SA)-amine binary nucleation with dimethylamine (DMA) has been recognized as a governing mechanism in the polluted continental boundary layer. Here we demonstrate the importance of trimethylamine (TMA) for nucleation in the complex atmosphere and propose a molecular-level SA-DMA-TMA ternary nucleation mechanism as an improvement upon the conventional binary mechanism. Using the proposed mechanism, we could connect the gaseous amines to the SA-amine cluster signals measured in the atmosphere of urban Beijing. Results show that TMA can accelerate the SA-DMA-based new particle formation in Beijing by 50–100%. Considering the global abundance of TMA and DMA, our findings imply comparable importance of TMA and DMA to nucleation in the polluted continental boundary layer, with probably higher contributions from TMA in polluted rural environments and future urban environments with controlled DMA emissions.

Original language	English
Article number	75
Journal	npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
Volume	6
Issue	1
Number of pages	8
ISSN	2397-3722
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-023-00405-3
Publication status	Published - Dec 2023

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title = "Significant contributions of trimethylamine to sulfuric acid nucleation in polluted environments",

abstract = "As one of the least understood aerosol processes, nucleation can be a dominant source of atmospheric aerosols. Sulfuric acid (SA)-amine binary nucleation with dimethylamine (DMA) has been recognized as a governing mechanism in the polluted continental boundary layer. Here we demonstrate the importance of trimethylamine (TMA) for nucleation in the complex atmosphere and propose a molecular-level SA-DMA-TMA ternary nucleation mechanism as an improvement upon the conventional binary mechanism. Using the proposed mechanism, we could connect the gaseous amines to the SA-amine cluster signals measured in the atmosphere of urban Beijing. Results show that TMA can accelerate the SA-DMA-based new particle formation in Beijing by 50–100%. Considering the global abundance of TMA and DMA, our findings imply comparable importance of TMA and DMA to nucleation in the polluted continental boundary layer, with probably higher contributions from TMA in polluted rural environments and future urban environments with controlled DMA emissions.",

author = "Runlong Cai and Rujing Yin and Xue Li and Xie, {Hong Bin} and Dongsen Yang and Kerminen, {Veli Matti} and Smith, {James N.} and Yan Ma and Jiming Hao and Jingwen Chen and Markku Kulmala and Jun Zheng and Jingkun Jiang and Jonas Elm",

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year = "2023",

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doi = "10.1038/s41612-023-00405-3",

language = "English",

volume = "6",

journal = "npj Climate and Atmospheric Science",

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T1 - Significant contributions of trimethylamine to sulfuric acid nucleation in polluted environments

AU - Cai, Runlong

AU - Yin, Rujing

AU - Li, Xue

AU - Xie, Hong Bin

AU - Yang, Dongsen

AU - Kerminen, Veli Matti

AU - Smith, James N.

AU - Ma, Yan

AU - Hao, Jiming

AU - Chen, Jingwen

AU - Kulmala, Markku

AU - Zheng, Jun

AU - Jiang, Jingkun

AU - Elm, Jonas

PY - 2023/12

Y1 - 2023/12

N2 - As one of the least understood aerosol processes, nucleation can be a dominant source of atmospheric aerosols. Sulfuric acid (SA)-amine binary nucleation with dimethylamine (DMA) has been recognized as a governing mechanism in the polluted continental boundary layer. Here we demonstrate the importance of trimethylamine (TMA) for nucleation in the complex atmosphere and propose a molecular-level SA-DMA-TMA ternary nucleation mechanism as an improvement upon the conventional binary mechanism. Using the proposed mechanism, we could connect the gaseous amines to the SA-amine cluster signals measured in the atmosphere of urban Beijing. Results show that TMA can accelerate the SA-DMA-based new particle formation in Beijing by 50–100%. Considering the global abundance of TMA and DMA, our findings imply comparable importance of TMA and DMA to nucleation in the polluted continental boundary layer, with probably higher contributions from TMA in polluted rural environments and future urban environments with controlled DMA emissions.

AB - As one of the least understood aerosol processes, nucleation can be a dominant source of atmospheric aerosols. Sulfuric acid (SA)-amine binary nucleation with dimethylamine (DMA) has been recognized as a governing mechanism in the polluted continental boundary layer. Here we demonstrate the importance of trimethylamine (TMA) for nucleation in the complex atmosphere and propose a molecular-level SA-DMA-TMA ternary nucleation mechanism as an improvement upon the conventional binary mechanism. Using the proposed mechanism, we could connect the gaseous amines to the SA-amine cluster signals measured in the atmosphere of urban Beijing. Results show that TMA can accelerate the SA-DMA-based new particle formation in Beijing by 50–100%. Considering the global abundance of TMA and DMA, our findings imply comparable importance of TMA and DMA to nucleation in the polluted continental boundary layer, with probably higher contributions from TMA in polluted rural environments and future urban environments with controlled DMA emissions.

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U2 - 10.1038/s41612-023-00405-3

DO - 10.1038/s41612-023-00405-3

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85163789084

SN - 2397-3722

VL - 6

JO - npj Climate and Atmospheric Science

JF - npj Climate and Atmospheric Science

IS - 1

M1 - 75

ER -

Significant contributions of trimethylamine to sulfuric acid nucleation in polluted environments

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