Thermal and Photochemical Reactions of HONO/ NO2−: pH Effects
Submission Type
Event
Expected Graduation Date
2013
Location
Atrium, Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Start Date
4-20-2013 2:00 PM
End Date
4-20-2013 3:00 PM
Disciplines
Chemistry
Abstract
Nitrous acid and nitrite ion naturally occur in the environment and react with light to form hydroxyl radicals, a key ingredient in pollution studies. HONO and NO2− are in equilibrium with each other, and their separate contributions to the production of hydroxyl radicals are not certain. In this study, UV-Vis spectrometry was used to determine the absorbance values of NO2− and HONO under basic and acidic conditions, respectively. The order of the thermolysis reaction of HONO (~2.4) was also determined by using the absorbance values over time. Current work is focused on the photolysis of both species in the near UV (366 nm) and the use of a hydroxyl radical scavenger to better judge the relative rates of photolytic production of hydroxyl radicals from HONO and NO2− at varying pH values.
Thermal and Photochemical Reactions of HONO/ NO2−: pH Effects
Atrium, Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Nitrous acid and nitrite ion naturally occur in the environment and react with light to form hydroxyl radicals, a key ingredient in pollution studies. HONO and NO2− are in equilibrium with each other, and their separate contributions to the production of hydroxyl radicals are not certain. In this study, UV-Vis spectrometry was used to determine the absorbance values of NO2− and HONO under basic and acidic conditions, respectively. The order of the thermolysis reaction of HONO (~2.4) was also determined by using the absorbance values over time. Current work is focused on the photolysis of both species in the near UV (366 nm) and the use of a hydroxyl radical scavenger to better judge the relative rates of photolytic production of hydroxyl radicals from HONO and NO2− at varying pH values.