New Particle Formation and Growth from Dimethyl Sulfide Oxidation by Hydroxyl Radicals

Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is produced by plankton in oceans and constitutes the largest natural emission of sulfur to atmosphere. In this work, we examine new particle formation from primary pathway oxidation gas-phase DMS OH radicals. We particularly focus on growth mass yield as studied experimentally under dry conditions using atmospheric simulation chamber AURA. Experimentally, show that aerosol yields 50–200 ppb are low (2–7%) rates (8.2–24.4 nm/h) comparable with ambient observations. An HR-ToF-AMS was calibrated methanesulfonic acid (MSA) account for fragments distributed across both organic sulfate fragmentation table. AMS-derived chemical compositions revealed MSA always more dominant than secondary aerosols formed. Modeling Aerosol Dynamics, gas- particle-phase chemistry kinetic multilayer model laboratory CHAMber studies (ADCHAM) indicates Master Chemical Mechanism alone underestimates observed multiphase autoxidation needed explain Based quantum calculations, conclude atmosphere will most likely be driven mixed sulfuric acid/MSA clusters clustering amines ammonia.