Date Thesis Awarded
4-2024
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Science (BS)
Department
Chemistry
Advisor
Nathanael Kidwell
Committee Members
Kristin Wustholz
Randolph Coleman
Stephen Trefethen
Abstract
The solar absorption outcomes of brown carbon (BrC) aerosols are a primary subject of investigation in atmospheric chemistry due to their impact on climate, atmospheric composition, and human health. BrC efficiently absorbs ultraviolet and visible wavelengths, opening a complex set of photochemical pathways. Many of these photochemical processes occur at the air/aerosol interface, where partial solvation geometries facilitate unique, often accelerated chemistry. Nitroaromatic compounds have been identified as important chromophores in BrC aerosols. This study investigates the fundamental geometry and molecular motion of ortho-nitrophenol (oNP), a prototypical BrC nitroaromatic compound, at aerosol interfaces using the powerful surface-selective spectroscopic technique vibration sum-frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy. Experimental data is complemented with high-level density functional theory calculations used to obtain the spatial geometries and hydrogen bonding networks of ortho-nitrophenol at an interfacial solvation environment. Overall, results provide insights into likely conformational and spectroscopic properties of ortho-nitrophenol at the air/aerosol interface.
Recommended Citation
Wilkinson, W. Churchill, "IMPACT OF INTERFACIAL SOLVATION ENVIRONMENTS ON NITROPHENOL PHOTOCHEMISRY" (2024). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 2124.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/2124
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
