Photodegradation of Methyl Thioglycolate Particles as a Proxy for Organosulphur Containing Droplets

SENG, SAMANTHA; PICONE, LORENA A.; BAVA, YANINA B.; JUNCAL, LUCIANA C.; MOREAU, MIRIAM; CIURARU, RALUCA; GEORGE, CHRISTIAN; ROMANO, ROSANA M.; SOBANSKA, SOPHIE; TOBÓN, YENY A.

PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS

ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY

Lugar: CAMBRIDGE; Año: 2018 vol. 20 p. 19416 - 19423

1463-9076

Understanding the sulphur-rich particle formation and transformation is of prime importance since they contribute to the global atmospheric sulphur budget. In this work, we performed a serie of experiments on a photoactive organosulphur compound i.e., methyl thioglicolate, as a model compound for organosulphur species of marine origin. By investigating the photoproducts on levitated droplets, we showed that elemental sulphur (α-S8) and sulphate (SO42-) can be photochemically generated at the gas-liquid interface by heterogeneous interaction with gaseous O2 and H2O. These results demonstrate that the surface of levitated droplets facilitate the oxidation of methyl thioglycolate in the dark, while illumination is necessary to produce the oxidation in bulk experiments.