Human activities emit many kinds of pollutants into the air, and without a molecule called hydroxide (OH), many of these pollutants would keep aggregating in the atmosphere.
Human activities emit many kinds of pollutants into the air, and without a molecule called hydroxide (OH), many of these pollutants would keep aggregating in the atmosphere.
How OH itself forms in the atmosphere was viewed as a complete story, but in new research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a research team that includes Sergey Nizkorodov, a University of California, Irvine professor of chemistry, report that a strong electric field that exists at the surface between airborne water droplets and the surrounding air can create OH by a previously unknown mechanism.
It’s a finding that stands to reshape how scientists understand how the air clears itself of things like human-emitted pollutants and greenhouse gases, which OH can react with and eliminate. “You need OH to oxidize hydrocarbons, otherwise they would build up in the atmosphere indefinitely,” said Nizkorodov.
“OH is a key player in the story of atmospheric chemistry. It initiates the reactions that break down airborne pollutants and helps to remove noxious chemicals such as sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide, which are poisonous gases, from the atmosphere,” said Christian George, an atmospheric chemist at the University of Lyon in France and lead author of the new study. “Thus, having a full understanding of its sources and sinks is key to understanding and mitigating air pollution.”
Read more at University of California - Irvine
Image: Sergey Nizkorodov, UCI professor of Chemistry (left), and atmospheric chemist Christian George of the National Center for Scientific Research at the University of Lyon, France, led a project to derive a new understanding of how hydroxide molecules help clear the atmosphere of human-emitted pollutants and greenhouse gases. (Credit: UCI)
