This Institute will develop a broad understanding of reactions at the air-water interface and their importance in the atmosphere across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. Experiments using a variety of approaches (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with long path gas cells and attenuated total reflectance for thin films, aerosol chamber with spectroscopic and atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry, laser desorption-Fourier transform mass spectrometry, thermal desorption mass spectrometry, both conventional and high pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, aerosol chemical ionization mass spectrometry, infrared cavity ring down spectroscopy, aerosol photochemistry apparatus, electron spin resonance studies, computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, environmental scanning electron microscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry) will be used to study the air-water interface reactions of halogens, oxides of nitrogen and sulfur, organic compounds, and mixtures of these. Theoretical approaches including ab initio quantum chemical calculations, molecular dynamics simulations, and theoretical treatments of capillary waves on liquid surfaces will be used to interpret the experimental data at the most fundamental level. The insights gained from the experiments and theory will be integrated into a state-of-the art airshed model to assess the implications on local to regional scales, and this model will be tested first by application to experimental laboratory data.
The chemical reactions that take place at the air-water interfaces are important to atmospheric processes in the troposphere. This team of scientists and engineers will use experimental and computational techniques to better understand the complex reactions occuring at the surface of a thin film or the surface of an atmospheric aerosol particle. A cohort of talented and diverse students will be trained to work on these complex problems. The EMSI is partnering with the University of California-Irvine Math Science Partnership award (FOCUS!) to provide continuing professional training and curricular support in both fundamental chemistry and atmospheric sciences to regional high school and middle school science teachers.
Environmental Molecular Science Institute (EMSI) awards are given to interdisciplinary teams of university, industrial and/or national laboratory scientists working on problems aimed at increasing fundamental understanding of natural processes and processes resulting from human activities in the environment at the molecular level. The emphasis in these awards is on collaborative research among teams with complementary research interests and the creation of broad educational experiences for students. This EMSI represents a partnership between six faculty at the University of California-Irvine (funded by the National Science Foundation Divisions of Chemistry and Atmospheric Sciences), international researchers from the Czech Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, and the University of Canterbury, New Zealand together with researchers from the Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory at the Pacific Northwest National Lab, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The NSF EMSI award incorporates a Collaborative Research in Chemistry award, CHE-0209719.
