New insights into the formation of ammonium nitrate from a physical and chemical level perspective

Highlights

● Factor analysis of ammonium nitrate formation based on thermodynamic theory.

● Aerosol liquid water content has important role on the ammonium nitrate formation.

● Contribution of coal combustion and vehicle exhaust is significant in haze periods.

Abstract

High levels of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) is linked to poor air quality and premature deaths, so haze pollution deserves the attention of the world. As abundant inorganic components in PM_2.5, ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃) formation includes two processes, the diffusion process (molecule of ammonia and nitric acid move from gas phase to liquid phase) and the ionization process (subsequent dissociation to form ions). In this study, we discuss the impact of meteorological factors, emission sources, and gaseous precursors on NH₄NO₃ formation based on thermodynamic theory, and identify the dominant factors during clean periods and haze periods. Results show that aerosol liquid water content has a more significant effect on ammonium nitrate formation regardless of the severity of pollution. The dust source is dominant emission source in clean periods; while a combination of coal combustion and vehicle exhaust sources is more important in haze periods. And the control of ammonia emission is more effective in reducing the formation of ammonium nitrate. The findings of this work inform the design of effective strategies to control particulate matter pollution.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Ammonium nitrate formation / Thermodynamic theory / Aerosol liquid water content / Source apportionment

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42077191), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Nos. 63213072 and 63213074), the GDAS’ Project of Science and Technology Development (No. 2021GDASYL-20210103058), the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2022A1515012165), The Blue Sky Foundation.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-023-1737-6 and is accessible for authorized users.

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