Dynamic method to measure partition coefficient and mass accommodation coefficient for gas‒particle interaction of phthalates

Abstract The particle-gas partition coefficient (Kp) and mass accommodation coefficient (α) are two parameters characterizing the gas-particle interaction of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). Most of the available methods for measuring Kp require equilibrium at the chamber outlet, implying substantial preliminary testing. The need to separate gas-phase and particle-phase SVOCs also reduces the method accuracy. Few studies measuring α for indoor-related SVOCs are available, and they usually ignore the wall loss of SVOCs, resulting in reduced measurement accuracy. To overcome these deficiencies, we developed a dynamic method coupling a laminar flow tube chamber and an SVOC mass transfer model. Using the interaction between gas-phase di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and (NH4)2SO4 particles (with diameters in the range of 10–600 nm) as an example, experiments were performed to evaluate the effectiveness and accuracy of the dynamic method. For the experimental conditions investigated (temperature = 25 °C and relative humidity <10%), gas-particle interaction between DEHP and (NH4)2SO4 particles is governed by surface adsorption because (NH4)2SO4 particles are in solid state. In this case, gas-particle partitioning should be characterized by the surface-area-normalized partition coefficient (KpA). KpA and α were measured to be 260 ± 80 m and 0.20 ± 0.05, respectively. Both are consistent with results reported in the literature. The method applicability for other SVOC-particle combinations and the improvement of method accuracy require further study. Copyright © 2019 American Association for Aerosol Research