New sulfate formation pathway provides more accurate haze prediction

Description

Professor Chan Chak-keung, Dean of the School of Energy and Environment (SEE) and Chair Professor of Atmospheric Environment, Dr Gen Masao, Postdoctoral Fellow at the SEE (currently Assistant Professor at Kanazawa University, Japan), and Zhang Ruifeng, PhD student in the SEE, proposed a new pathway for sulfate formation through the photolysis of particulate nitrate. The research was published in the prestigious journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters and was recognised as one of the journal’s five Best Paper Awards winners in 2019 and the only winner in the atmospheric pollution research area.

Professor Chan said the research opened up nitrate photolysis as a mechanism for the formation of sulfate, as well as other secondary PM pollutants, such as secondary organic aerosols that are formed in the atmosphere. The proposed new pathway for the formation of sulfate provides new insights for improving haze prediction to address air pollution problems.