Overlooked Significance of Reactive Chlorines in the Reacted Loss of VOCs and the Formation of O<sub>3</sub> and SOA
Wei Ma, Zemin Feng, Xin Chen, Men Xia, Yafei Liu, Yafei Liu, Yusheng Zhang, Yuan Liu, Yuan Liu, Yuzheng Wang, Feixue Zheng, Chenjie Hua, Jinwen Li, Zhixin Zhao, Hongling Yang, Markku Kulmala, Douglas R. Worsnop, Hong He, Yongchun Liu, Yongchun Liu
Abstract
The photochemical loss of VOCs induced by OH radicals has been proven to be important for diagnosing ozone formation chemistry, while chlorine chemistry is becoming increasingly critical in the atmosphere by oxidizing primary pollutants and accelerating the formation of secondary pollutants. However, the role of the consumed VOCs caused by chlorine radicals is not clear. Here, observations combined with model simulations suggest that photochemical depletion of VOCs oxidized by chlorine radicals would not only promote the formation of ozone and oxygenated organic molecules (OOMs) but also help explain the nonlinear chemistry between secondary pollutants (O 3 and OOMs) and precursors (VOCs and NO x ). This enhancement of O 3 and OOMs by chlorine radicals is nonlinearly dependent on the ratio of VOCs to NO x, and the connection of O 3 and secondary organic aerosol with VOCs/NO x provides critical insight into the understanding of the oxidation processes of VOCs and intermediates from emission, reaction, and products.