Kinetic and product yield study of the heterogeneous gas-surface reaction of anthracene and ozone

Little quantitative information exists regarding the products of the heterogeneous reaction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and ozone. We have, therefore, performed the first quantitative study investigating the kinetics and products of the heterogeneous gas-surface reaction of anthracene and ozone as a function of ozone concentration and relative humidity (RH). The reaction exhibited pseudo-first-order kinetics for anthracene loss under dry conditions (RH < 1%) and the pseudo-first-order rate coefficients displayed a Langmuir-Hinshelwood dependence on the gas-phase ozone concentration, which yielded the following fitting parameters: the equilibrium constant for ozone adsorption, K(O3) = (2.8 +/- 0.9) x 10(-15) cm3 and the maximum pseudo-first-order rate coefficient, k(I)max = (6.4 +/- 1.8) x 10(-3) s(-1). The kinetics were unchanged when experiments were performed at approximately 50% and 60% RH. In the product study, a nonlinear dependence, similar to a Langmuir adsorption plot, of the anthraquinone product yield as a function of ozone concentration was observed and resulted in the following fitting parameters: K(O3) = (3.4 +/- 1.5) x 10(-15) cm3 and the maximum anthraquinone yield, ANQmax % = 30 +/- 18%. Experiments performed under higher relative humidity conditions ( approximately 50% and 60% RH) revealed that the anthraquinone yield was unaffected by the presence of gas-phase water. It is noteworthy that both the anthracene loss kinetics and the anthraquinone yields have a similar dependence on the degree of ozone partitioning to the surface. This can be understood in terms of a mechanism whereby the rate-determining steps for anthracene loss and anthraquinone formation are both driven by the amounts of ozone adsorbed on the surface. Our results suggest that at atmospherically relevant ozone concentrations (100 ppb) the anthraquinone yield from the ozonolysis of anthracene under dry and high relative humidity conditions would be less than 1%.