Adsorption and hydrolysis of alcohols and carbonyls on ice at temperatures of the upper troposphere.

The uptake of gaseous ethanol, 1,1,1-trifluoroethanol, acetone, chloral (CCl(3)CHO), and fluoral (CF(3)CHO) on ice films has been investigated using a coated-wall flow tube at temperatures 208-228 K corresponding to the upper troposphere (UT), with a mass spectrometric measurement of gas concentration. The uptake was largely reversible and followed Langmuir-type kinetic behavior, i.e., surface coverage increased with the trace gas concentration approaching a maximum surface coverage at a gas phase concentration of N(max) ∼ (2-4) × 10(14) molecules cm(-3), corresponding to a surface coverage of ∼30% of a monolayer (ML). The equilibrium partition coefficients, K(LinC), were obtained from the experimental data by analysis using the simple Langmuir model for specific conditions of temperature and concentration. The analysis showed that the K(LinC) depend only weakly on surface coverages. The following expressions described the temperature dependence of the partition coefficients (K(LinC)) in centimeters, at low coverage for ethanol, trifluoroethanol, acetone, chloral, and fluoral: K(LinC) = 1.36 × 10(-11) exp(5573.5/T), K(LinC) = 3.74 × 10(-12) exp(6427/T), K(LinC) = 3.04 × 10(-9) exp(4625/T), K(LinC) = 7.52 × 10(-4) exp(2069/T), and K(LinC) = 1.06 × 10(-2) exp(904/T). For acetone and ethanol the enthalpies and entropies of adsorption derived from all available data showed systematic temperature dependence, which is attributed to temperature dependent surface modifications, e.g., QLL formation. For chloral and fluoral, there was an irreversible component of uptake, which was attributed to hydrate formation on the surface. Rate constants for these surface reactions derived using a Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism are reported.

A kinetic model for uptake of HNO3 and HCl on ice in a coated wall flow system.

A simple model of gas flow and surface exchange with a single site Langmuir mechanism has been developed to describe effects of adsorption and desorption on trace gas concentrations at the outflow from a coated wall flow tube reactor. The model was tested by simulating experimental results for the uptake of HNO3 and HCl on ice films at temperatures and gas concentrations corresponding to the ice stability region in the upper troposphere. The experimental time-dependent uptake profiles were best fitted with an additional process involving diffusion of the adsorbed molecules into the ice film. The model allowed true surface coverages to be distinguished from total uptake including transfer to the bulk, leading to more accurate estimates of the Langmuir constant, Keq, for surface adsorption. A revised expression was obtained for the temperature dependence of the Keq=-(4.43 +/- 0.77)x 10(5)T+(10.72 +/- 1.75)x 10(7) hPa-1. Reasonable fits to the desorption profiles observed following cessation of exposure of the film to HNO3 or HCl were obtained at high surface coverage but at low coverage desorption was too slow. The analysis suggested that the ice surface was characterised by sites of different binding energy, some weakly bound sites from which the acid molecules desorbed rapidly, and some strong-binding sites which led to essentially irreversible uptake. Experiments involving competitive co-adsorption of HNO3 and HCl, conducted at relatively high equilibrium surface coverage, were well simulated by the model, as were those where the same surface was repeatedly exposed to gas phase acids.