SIGNATURE WORK
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2022

Atmospheric aerosol contributes significantly to public health and plays a critical role in global climate. Recent laboratory experiments showed that new particle can form rapidly in the presence of nitric acid and ammonia at low temperatures. Amines are derivatives of ammonia with a significant presence in the atmosphere. By using Extended Aerosol Inorganics Model (EAIM), the condensation of amines and nitric acid under various temperatures was systematically evaluated from a thermodynamic perspective. Our results show that monoamines can condense with nitric acid at a temperature comparable to ammonia, while amines with additional hydrogen bonds (such as monoethanolamine and piperazine) can condense with nitric acid at room temperature. The condensed amines and nitric acid also lower the aerosol deliquescence point, which may alter its subsequent atmospheric transformations. Our results suggest the potentially critical role of amines in new particle formation via condensation with nitric acid to rapidly grow newly formed clusters over their critical size in a wide temperature range.