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Wang L, Liang D, Liu J, Du L, Vejerano E, Zhang X. Unexpected catalytic influence of atmospheric pollutants on the formation of environmentally persistent free radicals. Chemosphere 2022; 303:134854. [PMID: 35533943 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) have been recognized as harmful and persistent environmental pollutants. In polluted regions, many acidic and basic atmospheric pollutants, which are present at high concentrations, may influence the extent of the formation of EPFRs. In the present paper, density functional theory (DFT) and ab-initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) calculations were performed to investigate the formation mechanisms of EPFRs with the influence of the acidic pollutants sulfuric acid (SA), nitric acid (NA), organic acid (OA), and the basic pollutants, ammonia (A), dimethylamine (DMA) on α-Al2O3 (0001) surface. Results indicate that both acidic and basic pollutants can enhance the formation of EPFRs by acting as "bridge" or "semi-bridge" roles by proceeding via a barrierless process. Acidic pollutants enhance the formation of EPFRs by first transferring its hydrogen atom to the α-Al2O3 surface and subsequently reacting with phenol to form an EPFR. In contrast, basic pollutants enhance the formation of EPFRs by first abstracting a hydrogen atom from phenol to form a phenoxy EPFR and eventually interacting with the α-Al2O3 surface. These new mechanistic insights will inform in understanding the abundant EPFRs in polluted regions with high mass concentrations of acidic and basic pollutants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Wang
- Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education of China, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Danli Liang
- Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education of China, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Jiarong Liu
- Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education of China, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China; Key Laboratory of National Land Space Planning and Disaster Emergency Management of Inner Mongolia, School of Resources, Environment and Architectural Engineering, Chifeng University, Chifeng, 024000, China
| | - Lin Du
- Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Eric Vejerano
- Center for Environmental Nanoscience and Risk, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, United States
| | - Xiuhui Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education of China, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China.
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