Electron-triggered chemistry in HNO3/H2O complexes

0473612 - ÚFCH JH 2018 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Lengyel, Jozef - Ončák, M. - Fedor, Juraj - Kočišek, Jaroslav - Pysanenko, Andriy - Beyer, M. K. - Fárník, Michal
Electron-triggered chemistry in HNO3/H2O complexes.
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. Roč. 19, č. 19 (2017), s. 11753-11758. ISSN 1463-9076. E-ISSN 1463-9084
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA15-12386S
Institutional support: RVO:61388955
Keywords : electron-triggered chemistry * acid-water clusters * gas-phase reactions
OECD category: Physical chemistry
Impact factor: 3.906, year: 2017
Method of publishing: Open access

Polar stratospheric clouds, which consist mainly of nitric acid containing ice particles, play a pivotal role in stratospheric chemistry. We investigate mixed nitric acid-water clusters (HNO3)(m)( H2O)(n), m approximate to 1-6, n approximate to 1-15, in a laboratory molecular beam experiment using electron attachment and mass spectrometry and interpret our experiments using DFT calculations. The reactions are triggered by the attachment of free electrons (0-14 eV) which leads to subsequent intracluster ion-molecule reactions. In these reactions, the nitrate anion NO3- turns out to play the central role. This contradicts the electron attachment to the gas-phase HNO3 molecule, which leads almost exclusively to NO2-. The nitrate containing clusters are formed through at least three different reaction pathways and represent terminal product ions in the reaction cascade initiated by the electron attachment. Besides, the complex reaction pathways represent a new hitherto unrecognized source of atmospherically important OH and HONO molecules.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0273896