| Abstract: | An experimental investigation of the gas-phase photooxidation of toluene–NOx–air mixtures at part-per-million concentrations has been carried out in a 65-m3, outdoor smog chamber to assess our understanding of the atmospheric chemistry of toluene. In addition, six CO? NOx–air irradiations were conducted to characterize the chamber with regard to any wall radical sources. Measured parameters in the toluene–NOx experiments included O3, NO, NO2, HNO3, peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), CO, toluene, benzaldehyde, o-cresol, m-nitrotoluene, peroxybenzoyl nitrate (PBZN), temperature, relative humidity, aerosol size distributions, and particulate organic carbon. Predictions of the reaction mechanism of Leone and Seinfeld 7] are found to be in good agreement with the data under a variety of initial conditions. Additional simulations are used to investigate various mechanistic pathways in areas where our understanding of toluene chemistry is still incomplete. |
