Articles | Volume 11, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4109-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4109-2018
Research article
 | 
17 Jul 2018
Research article |  | 17 Jul 2018

Quantification of peroxynitric acid and peroxyacyl nitrates using an ethane-based thermal dissociation peroxy radical chemical amplification cavity ring-down spectrometer

Youssef M. Taha, Matthew T. Saowapon, Faisal V. Assad, Connie Z. Ye, Xining Chen, Natasha M. Garner, and Hans D. Osthoff

Abstract. Peroxy and peroxyacyl nitrates (PNs and PANs) are important trace gas constituents of the troposphere which are challenging to quantify by differential thermal dissociation with NO2 detection in polluted (i.e., high-NOx) environments. In this paper, a thermal dissociation peroxy radical chemical amplification cavity ring-down spectrometer (TD-PERCA-CRDS) for sensitive and selective quantification of total peroxynitrates (ΣPN  =  ΣRO2NO2) and of total peroxyacyl nitrates (ΣPAN  =  ΣRC(O)O2NO2) is described. The instrument features multiple detection channels to monitor the NO2 background and the ROx ( =  HO2 + RO2 + ΣRO2) radicals generated by TD of ΣPN and/or ΣPAN. Chemical amplification is achieved through the addition of 0.6 ppm NO and 1.6 % C2H6 to the inlet. The instrument's performance was evaluated using peroxynitric acid (PNA) and peroxyacetic or peroxypropionic nitric anhydride (PAN or PPN) as representative examples of ΣPN and ΣPAN, respectively, whose abundances were verified by iodide chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS). The amplification factor or chain length increases with temperature up to 69 ± 5 and decreases with analyte concentration and relative humidity (RH). At inlet temperatures above 120 and 250 °C, respectively, PNA and ΣPAN fully dissociated, though their TD profiles partially overlap. Furthermore, interference from ozone (O3) was observed at temperatures above 150 °C, rationalized by its partial dissociation to O atoms which react with C2H6 to form C2H5 and OH radicals. Quantification of PNA and ΣPAN in laboratory-generated mixtures containing O3 was achieved by simultaneously monitoring the TD-PERCA responses in multiple parallel CRDS channels set to different temperatures in the 60 to 130 °C range. The (1 s, 2σ) limit of detection (LOD) of TD-PERCA-CRDS is 6.8 pptv for PNA and 2.6 pptv for ΣPAN and significantly lower than TD-CRDS without chemical amplification. The feasibility of TD-PERCA-CRDS for ambient air measurements is discussed.

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Short summary
Nitrogen oxides are commonly measured by selective thermal dissociation (TD) to NO2, which can be quantified by optical absorption. Quantification of peroxynitrates (RO2NO2) by TD methods, however, is challenging in ambient air since NO2 is usually more abundant than RO2NO2. Here, a method to boost the sensitivity of TD instruments by chemical amplification following addition of ~ 1 % ethane and ~ 1 ppm NO to the inlet is presented. Advantages and disadvantages of the new method are discussed.