Abstract:
“Atmospheric aerosol loading” has been considered as one of the nine major aspects that can affect the stability of Earth due to anthropogenic activities, according to the planetary boundaries theory (Steffen et al. (2015), Richarson et al. (2023)). However, the physic-chemical properties of aerosols from various sources, the key factors affecting their formation and transformation, and their impacts on Earth’s stability, climate and sustainability remain to be better quantified and understood. Ozonolysis of monoterpenes represents one of the most important sources of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs). Among numerous monoterpene isomers, α-pinene, β-pinene and limonene are three environmentally enriched monoterpenes, accounting for 34%, 17%, and 9% of the global monoterpene emission (Sindelarova et al. (2014). Increasing studies indicate that water affects the aqueous aerosol chemistry, however, how it intervenes in the formation of monoterpene-derived secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) at the molecular level remains unclear.