Reactive Uptake on Aersols
In collaboration with School of Chemistry we have developed an apparatus to simultaneously probe the kinetic and mechanistic details of the heterogeneous conversion of atmospheric trace species upon solid surfaces representative of the materials present in parts of the atmosphere. Flow-tube apparatus with an in situ surface sensitive spectroscopic probe is used to establish the kinetics and mechanism of reactive uptake on a range of proxies (NaCl, mineral dust etc.) from the analysis of vibrational spectra during variation of controllable parameters such as relative humidity, temperature and reactive gas partial pressure. The information obtained will complement existing and ongoing kinetic studies of heterogeneous chemistry on these substrates and further assist our fundamental understanding of the dependency of local, global and short-lived heterogeneous processing upon temperature, relative humidity and atmospheric composition.