Competition between Displacement and Dissociation of a Strong Acid Compared to a Weak Acid Adsorbed on Silica Particle Surfaces: The Role of Adsorbed Water.

The adsorption of nitric (HNO3) and formic (HCOOH) acids on silica particle surfaces and the effect of adsorbed water have been investigated at 296 K using transmission FTIR spectroscopy. Under dry conditions, both nitric and formic acids adsorb reversibly on silica. Additionally, the FTIR spectra show that both of these molecules remain in the protonated form. At elevated relative humidities (RH), adsorbed water competes both for surface adsorption sites with these acids as well as promotes their dissociation to hydronium ions and the corresponding anions. Compared to HNO3, the extent of dissociation is much smaller for HCOOH, very likely because it is a weaker acid. This study provides valuable insights into the interaction of HNO3 and HCOOH with silica surface on the molecular level and further reveals the complex roles of surface-adsorbed water in atmospheric heterogeneous chemistry of mineral dust particles-many of these containing silica.