Heterogeneous reaction of HO2 with airborne TiO2 particles and its implication for climate change mitigation strategies

One geoengineering mitigation strategy for global temperature rises resulting from the increased concentrations of greenhouse gases is to inject particles into the stratosphere to scatter solar radiation back to space, with TiO2 particles emerging as a possible candidate. Uptake coefficients of HO2, γ(HO2), onto sub-micrometre TiO2 particles were measured at room temperature and different relative humidities (RHs) using an atmospheric pressure aerosol flow tube coupled to a sensitive HO2 detector. Values of γ(HO2) increased from 0.021 ± 0.001 to 0.036 ± 0.007 as the RH was increased from 11 to 66 %, and the increase in γ(HO2) correlated with the number of monolayers of water surrounding the TiO2 particles. The impact of the uptake of HO2 onto TiO2 particles on stratospheric concentrations of HO2 and O3 was simulated using the TOMCAT three-dimensional chemical transport model. The model showed that, when injecting the amount of TiO2 required to achieve the same cooling effect as the Mt Pinatubo eruption, heterogeneous reactions between HO2 and TiO2 would have a negligible effect on stratospheric concentrations of HO2 and O3.