Temporal evolution of charged and neutral nanoparticle concentrations during atmospheric new particle formation events and its implications for ion-induced nucleation

doi:10.1007/s11783-016-0862-x

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2016, Vol. 10

Issue (5) : 13 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-016-0862-x

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Temporal evolution of charged and neutral nanoparticle concentrations during atmospheric new particle formation events and its implications for ion-induced nucleation

E. Rohan Jayaratne,Buddhi Pushpawela,Lidia Morawska(

)

International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane QLD 4001, Australia

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Abstract

Over 100 new particle formation events were studied.

In 50 events, charged and neutral particles were not formed at the same time.

In 42 of these events the charged particles formed before the neutral particles.

Their subsequent growth rates were not determined by the particle charge.

The result suggests that ion induced nucleation plays a role in particle formation.

Time series of nanoparticle number concentration during new particle formation (NPF) events in the urban environment of Brisbane, Australia, showed that the formation of charged particles often occurred before that of neutral particles. We monitored 241 days during the calendar year 2012 over which NPF events were observed on 108 days. We studied the times at which the charged and neutral particle concentrations in the size range 1.8–3.2 nm reached their peak values and found that they were clearly different in 50 events with the peak neutral particle concentration lagging behind the charged particle concentration during 42 of these events with a mean time lag of 24±12 min. While the charged particles were more likely to form before the neutral particles, once formed, the growth rate of the particles did not depend on their charge. While ion-induced nucleation is not the dominant mechanism of NPF in the atmosphere, our observations suggest that the presence of ions in the atmosphere plays a role that cannot be ignored.

Keywords Charged particles Cluster ions Secondary particles Environmental pollution

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Corresponding Author(s): Lidia Morawska

Issue Date: 10 August 2016

Cite this article:

E. Rohan Jayaratne,Buddhi Pushpawela,Lidia Morawska. Temporal evolution of charged and neutral nanoparticle concentrations during atmospheric new particle formation events and its implications for ion-induced nucleation[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2016, 10(5): 13.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-016-0862-x
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2016/V10/I5/13

Fig.1 NAIS Spectragram of the NPF event on 21st April 2012. In (a), the plotted points show the median particle size and in (b) the curve shows the time variation of the particle number concentration

Fig.2 Time evolution of charged and neutral particle concentrations in five size bins during the NPF on 21st April 2012: (a) 1.8–3.2 nm; (b) 3.2–5.6 nm; (c) 5.6–10.0 nm; (d) 10.0–17.8 nm; (e) 17.8–31.6 nm

Fig.3 Time evolution of charged and neutral particle concentrations in five size bins during the NPF on 7th April 2012: (a) 1.8–3.2 nm; (b) 3.2–5.6 nm; (c) 5.6–10.0 nm; (d) 10.0–17.8 nm; (e) 17.8–31.6 nm

Fig.4 Summary of the time difference, Dt, between the peak of the charged and the neutral particle number concentrations in the smallest size bin, 1.8–3.2 nm during NPF events. The Dt values are classified into 10 min bins. Dt>0 when the charged particle concentrations peaked before that of the neutral particles and Dt<0 when the opposite was true

Fig.5 Time evolution of the charged and neutral particle sizes for the two NPF events on (a) April 7th and (b) April 21st. The data points indicate the relative formation times and growth rates of the neutral and charged particles

Fig.6 Time evolution of the charged and neutral particle sizes for the NPF events on April 11th

Fig.7 Times of occurrence of NPF events. The three panels show the events where the charged particles formed before the neutral particles (Dt>0), the neutral particles formed before the charged particles (Dt<0) and where the difference was not significant (Dt = 0)

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