Heterogeneous ozonation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on organic films

The heterogeneous reaction rates of gas-phase ozone with naphthalene, anthracene, fluoranthene, phenanthrene, pyrene, and BaP were measured over a range of ozone concentrations from 3.5 × 10¹⁴ to 2.3 × 10¹⁶ molecule/cc. The PAH were dissolved in organic mixtures of octanol or decanol along with with compounds known to be present in urban grime films. The presence of most additional organic compounds did not affect the reaction rates; however, unsaturated species, e.g., oleic acid and squalene, reduced the observed rates significantly. In all cases, the reaction kinetics were well-described by the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism, which suggested a surface reaction. The presence of PAH at the air-organic interface was confirmed by an adsorption isotherm of anthracene. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 231st ACS National Meeting (Atlanta, GA 3/26-30/2006). This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 231st ACS National Meeting (Atlanta, GA 3/26-30/2006).