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 NO2are 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 NO2and 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 NO2at varying pH values.

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Apr 20th, 2:00 PM Apr 20th, 3:00 PM

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 NO2are 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 NO2and 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 NO2at varying pH values.