Bartłomiej Witkowski

Study of the possible nucleating agents in the secondary organic aerosols (SOA) samples

Bartłomiej Witkowski, UW
Supervisors: dr. hab Tomasz Gierczak (UW)

Atmospheric aerosols are very important trace constituents of the atmosphere due to their impact on the climate and human health. The ozonolysis of the naturally occurring cyclic alkenes accounts for the significant part of the research focused on the biogenic secondary organic aerosols (BSOA) formation. However, due to lack of the appropriate standards, structures and therefore formations pathways of the recently discovered high molecular weight SOA components can be only tentatively identified. In an effort to improve the current methodology, a series of α-acyloxyhydroperoxy aldehydes were analyzed with direct infusion electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI/MSⁿ) as well as liquid chromatography coupled to the mass spectrometry (LC/MS). A comprehensive analytical and mechanistic study was carried out in order to develop a method for the unambiguous indentification of the α-acyloxyhydroperoxy aldehydes. Applications of the developed methodology for the analysis of SOA samples generated in gas phase, flow tube reactor will be presented. Chairman - prof. Zbigniew Floriańczyk

Discussion