American Association for Aerosol Research - Abstract Submission

AAAR 38th Annual Conference
October 5 - October 9, 2020

Virtual Conference

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Chemical Mechanism of Atmospheric Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol

REINA BUENCONSEJO, Sophia Charan, Paul Wennberg, John Seinfeld, California Institute of Technology

     Abstract Number: 335
     Working Group: Aerosol Chemistry

Abstract
Recent work indicates the growing importance of volatile chemical products (VCPs), particularly as air pollution regulations drive down the contribution of vehicular-based emissions. This work presents the chemical mechanism of benzyl alcohol, a VCP used in consumer care products and as a solvent in manufacturing processes. Specifically, this work identifies the primary oxidation products from benzyl alcohol reaction with hydroxy radicals and elucidates the pathway to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation using both laboratory studies and Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM) data. Benzyl alcohol oxidizes to form hydroxybenzyl alcohol via addition of OH to the aromatic ring, and benzaldehyde via hydrogen abstraction from the -CH2OH group. Experiments are conducted over a range of NO mixing ratios in order to probe the role of NO in the oxidation mechanism. This work also quantifies the contribution of each pathway (hydroxybenzyl alcohol versus benzaldehyde) to SOA formation.