Reactive uptake of NO3, N2O5, NO2, HNO3, and O3 on three types of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon surfaces

We investigated the reactive uptake of NO3, N2O5, NO2, HNO3, and O3 on three types of solid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using a coated wall flow tube reactor coupled to a chemical ionization mass spectrometer. The PAH surfaces studied were the 4-ring systems pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, and fluoranthene. Reaction of NO3 radicals with all three PAHs was observed to be very fast with the reactive uptake coefficient, gamma, ranging from 0.059 (+0.11/-0.049) for benz[a]anthracene at 273 K to 0.79 (+0.21/-0.67) for pyrene at room temperature. In contrast to the NO3 reactions, reactions of the different PAHs with the other gas-phase species (N2O5, NO2, HNO3, and O3) were at or below the detection limit (gamma