Research

Scientists at IQFR and the University of Nebraska publish a theoretical paper in the journal JACS with the proposal of a new mechanistic framework for the formation and growth of iodine aerosols in the atmosphere.

The formation and growth of atmospheric iodine particles over iodine-rich coastal regions involves iodine oxoacids and iodine oxides. However, the exact mechanism responsable for their homogeneous nucleation and subsequent cluster growth remains yet to be fully establised.

In this article, scientists at IQFR in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Nebraska propose a new catalytic mechanism for the formation and growth of these particles taking advantage of non-covalent interactions between iodine oxides (I2O5 e I2O4) and iodine acids (HIO2 y HIO3). They also propose that atmospheric aqueous surfaces can activate iodine oxides promoting the formation of new nucleating species, H2I2O6, HI4O11-, I3O8, that could further contribute to the formation of iodine particles in coastal environments.

Single-Molecule Catalysis Revealed: Elucidating the Mechanistic Framework for the Formation and Growth of Atmospheric Iodine Oxide Aerosols in Gas-Phase and Aqueous Surface Environments, Manoj Kumar, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, and Joseph S. FranciscoJournal of the American Chemical Society, Article ASAP, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b07441 (2018).