Influence of unsaturated aliphatic and aromatic volatile organic compounds on the oxidation of aqueous sulfur dioxide by oxygen in aqueous medium

The trace atmospheric volatile organic compounds(VOCs) are reported to influence the oxidation of dissolved sulfur dioxide, S(IV), by oxygen, which is an important reaction in atmospheric acid formation. In this work, the influence of 15 VOCs on uncatalyzed oxidation of S(IV) by oxygen has been investigated by following the disappearance of [O2]. The inhibition of oxidation reaction by toluene, aniline, benzene, cinnamic acid, hydroquinone, acrylamide, acrylonitrile and allyl alcohol was defined by the rate law(A): kVOC = k0/(1+B [Inh]) (A) where, kVOC, and k0 are the first order rate constants in the presence and the absence of VOCs respectively. B is the inhibition parameter and [Inh] is the concentration of inhibitor. On the other hand, fumaric, maleic and crotonic acids, which have conjugated CC bonds, catalyze the reaction defined by the rate law(B): kVOC = k0 + kcat [VOC] (B) where kcat is catalytic constant and [VOC] is the concentration of catalytic VOC. Interestingly, presence of 1-hexene, cyclohexene, methacrylic acid, methyl acrylate was without any significant effect on the rate of reaction. [Display omitted] •Kinetics of dissolved SO2 oxidation followed by O2 disappearance.•Oxidation is inhibited by toluene, aniline, benzene, cinnamic acid, hydroquinone, acrylamide, acrylonitrile and allyl alcohol.•Oxidation is catalyzed by fumaric, maleic and crotonic acids.