Methanol Uptake by Low Temperature Aqueous Sulfuric Acid Solutions

The global methanol budget is currently unbalanced, with source terms significantly larger than the sinks terms. To evaluate possible losses of gaseous methanol to sulfate aerosols, the solubility and reactivity of methanol in aqueous sulfuric acid solutions representative of upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric aerosols is under investigation. Methanol will partition into sulfate aerosols according to its Henry's law solubility. Using standard uptake techniques in a Knudsen cell reactor, we have measured the effective Henry's law coefficient, H*, for cold (196 - 220 K) solutions ranging between 45 and 70 wt % H2SO4. We have found that methanol solubility ranges from approx. 10(exp 5) - 10(exp 7) M/atm for UT/LS conditions. Solubility increases with decreasing temperature and with increasing sulfuric acid content. Although methanol is slightly more soluble than are acetone and formaldehyde, current data indicate that uptake by clean aqueous sulfuric acid particles will not be a significant sink for methanol in the UT/LS. These solubility measurements include uptake due to physical solvation and any rapid equilibria which are established in solution. Reaction between primary alcohols and sulfuric acid does occur, leading to the production of alkyl sulfates. Literature values for the rate of this reaction suggest that formation of CH3OSO3H is not significant over our experimental time scale for solutions below 80 wt % H2SO4. To confirm this directly, results obtained using a complementary equilibrium measurement technique will also be presented.