With the support of the Environmental Chemical Sciences Program in the Division of Chemistry, Dr. Tran Nguyen of the University of California at Davis is studying newly discovered pathways by which sulfur radicals can be formed in the environment and the potential importance of these reactions for influencing the composition of the atmosphere and understanding human-induced climate impacts. Dr. Nguyen and her research group will study how the reactions of sulfur radicals with organic compounds may change under different conditions relevant to cloud/fog droplets and the liquid water of aerosol particles. Complementing the research efforts, Dr. Nguyen will also produce accessible scientific education materials on environmental chemistry topics that will be disseminated via broad digital platforms to pre-college students, teachers, homeschooling parents, and the general public. Finally, Dr. Nguyen and colleagues at UC Davis will integrate open-access atmospheric chemistry data into undergraduate education.
The sulfate radical is known to be a reactive oxidant in the aqueous phase that can form surface-active compounds such as organosulfates, which could also affect atmospheric composition and aerosol-cloud interactions. This research will investigate the photochemical production of sulfate radicals in aqueous particles and bulk liquid water, and characterizes its dependence on pH, particle liquid water content, solution ionic strength, interfacial surface area, and other factors. In addition, the reactivity of sulfate radicals with a number of environmentally-important compounds will be quantified, alongside product identification to glean mechanistic information for these reactions. This project will provide interdisciplinary training to undergraduate and graduate students in physical chemistry, quantitative analytical chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, atmospheric chamber techniques, and computational modeling.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
