Hygroscopicity of particles generated from photooxidation of α-pinene under different oxidation conditions in the presence of sulfate seed aerosols

Smog chamber experiments were conducted to investigate the hygroscopicity of particles generated from photooxidation of α-pinene/NOx with different sulfate seed aerosols or oxidation conditions. Hygroscopicity of particles was measured by a tandem differential mobility analyzer (TDMA) in terms of hygroscopic growth factor (Gf), with a relative humidity of 85%. With sulfate seed aerosols present, Gf of the aerosols decreased very fast before notable secondary organic aerosols (SOA) formation was observed, indicating a heterogeneous process between inorganic seeds and organic products might take place as soon as oxidation begins, rather than only happening after gas-aerosol partition of organic products starts. The final SOA-coated sulfate particles had similar or lower Gf than seed-free SOA. The hygroscopicity of the final particles was not dependent on the thickness but on the hygroscopicity properties of the SOA, which were influenced by the initial sulfate seed particles. In the two designed aging processes, Gf of the particles increased more significantly with introduction of OH radical than with ozone. However, the hygroscopicity of SOA was very low even after a long time of aging, implying that either SOA aging in the chamber was very slow or the Gf of SOA did not change significantly in aging. Using an aerosol composition speciation monitor (ACSM) and matrix factorization (PMF) method, two factors for the components of SOA were identified, but the correlation between SOA hygroscopicity and the proportion of the more highly oxidized factor could be either positive or negative depending on the speciation of seed aerosols present.