Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Peer-reviewed

Changing aerosol chemistry is redefining HONO sources

Yusheng Zhang, Yongchun Liu, Wei Ma, Chenjie Hua, Feixue Zheng, Chaofan Lian, Weigang Wang, Men Xia, Zhixin Zhao, Jinwen Li, Jiali Xie, Zongcheng Wang, Yuzheng Wang, Xin Chen, Ying Zhang, Zemin Feng, Chao Yan, Biwu Chu, Wei Du, Veli‐Matti Kerminen, Federico Bianchi, Tuukka Petäjä, Douglas R. Worsnop, Markku Kulmala

Nature Communications · 2025

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Summary

Heterogeneous reactions of NO<sub>2</sub> on particulate matter have been considered an important source of HONO (Nitrous acid) in the troposphere, whereas its contribution is controversial due to the lack of uptake coefficient of NO<sub>2</sub> (γ<sub>NO2</sub>) on the surfaces of ambient particulate matter (PM). Here we investigate the the γ<sub>NO2</sub> to form HONO and its evolution based on long-term comprehensive field observations (2019-2023) in Beijing and a random forest model with Shapley additive explanations. The γ<sub>NO2</sub> on ambient PM is on the order of 10<sup>-6</sup>, decreasing markedly from 3.07 ± 5.99 × 10<sup>-6</sup> in 2019 to 1.43 ± 3.22 × 10<sup>-6</sup> in 2023. This decrease is driven by the increase in aerosol pH, linked to increased ratio of NH<sub>4</sub

Source type
Peer-reviewed study
DOI
10.1038/s41467-025-60614-7
Catalogue ID
SNmoht1xk5-jndqi4
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