Ozone- and Photon-Enhanced Atmospheric Sulfidation of Copper

The sulfidation of materials upon exposure to the atmosphere has traditionally been attributed entirely to reactions with sulfur-containing gases and water vapor. New laboratory results demonstrate that the sulfidation of polycrystalline copper can be markedly enhanced both by solar radiation and by the ubiquitous atmospheric ozone, thus indicating that the high rates of corrosion in urban areas are a result of a complex sequence of multicomponent photochemical processes.