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Size-resolved deposition rates and Brownian coagulation of particles between 20 and 900 nm (mobility diameter) were estimated in a well-mixed environmental chamber from a gasoline vehicle exhaust with a total peak particle concentration of 105-106 particles/cm³ at 12.24-25.22 °C. A deposition theory with modified friction velocity and coagulation model was also employed to predict particle concentration decay. Initially during particle decay, approximately 85% or more of the particles had diameters of <100 nm. Particle deposition rates with standard deviations were highly dependent on particle size ranges, and varied from 0.012 ± 0.003 to 0.48 ± 0.02 h-1. In the experiment, the friction velocity obtained was in the range 1.5-2.5 cm/s. The most explainable fractal dimension and Hamaker constant in coagulation model were 2.5-3 and 20 kT, respectively, and the contribution from coagulation dominated the total particle decay during the first 1 h of decay. It is considered that the modified friction velocity and best fitted fractal dimension and Hamaker constants could be further used to analyze gasoline vehicle exhaust particle dynamics and assess human exposure to vehicle particle pollutants in urban areas, tunnels, and underground parking lots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanosized rod-like, wire-like, and tubular α-MnO2 and flower-like spherical Mn2O3 have been prepared via the hydrothermal method and the CCI4 solution method, respectively. The physicochemical properties of the materials were characterized using numerous analytical techniques. The catalytic activities of the catalysts were evaluated for toluene oxidation. It is shown that α- MaO2 nanorods, nanowires, and nanotubes with a surface area of 45-83 m²/g were tetragonal in crystal structure, whereas flower-like spherical Mn2O3 with a surface area of 162 m²/g was of cubic crystal structure. There were the presence of surface Mn ions in multiple oxidation states (eg., Mn3+ , Mn4+, or even Mn2+) and the formation of surface oxygen vacancies. The oxygen adspecies concentration and low-temperature reducibility decreased in the order of rod-like α-MnO2 > tube-like α-MnO2 > flower-like Mn2O3 > wire-like α-MnO2 in good agreement with the sequence of the catalytic performance of these samples. The best-performing rod-like α-MnO2 catalyst could effectively catalyze the total oxidation of toluene at lower temperatures (T50% = 210 °C and T90% = 225 °C at space velocity = 20000 mL/(g h)). It is concluded that the excellent catalytic performance of α-MnO2 nanorods might be associated with the high oxygen adspecies concentration and good low-temperature reducibility. We are sure that such one-dimensional well-defined morphological manganese oxides are promising materials for the catalytic elimination of air pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was set out to characterize nanoparticle exposures in three selected workplaces of the packaging, warehouse, and pelletizing in a carbon black manufacturing plant using a newly developed modified electrical aerosol detector (MEAD). For confirmation purposes, the MEAD results were compared with those simultaneously obtained from a nanoparticle surface area monitor (NSAM) and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS). We found that workplace background nanoparticle concentrations were mainly coming from the outdoor environment. Size distributions of nanoparticles for the three selected process areas during the work hours were consistently in the form of bimodel. Unlike nanoparticles of the second mode (simply contributed by the process emissions), particles of the first mode could be also contributed by the forklift exhaust or fugitive emissions of heaters. The percents of nanoparticles deposited on the alveolar (A) region were much higher than the other two regions of the head airway (H), tracheobronchial (TB) for all selected workplaces in both number and surface area concentrations. However, significant differences were found in percents of nanoparticles deposited on each of the three regions while different exposure metrics were adopted. Both NSAM and MEAD obtained quite comparable results. No significant difference can be found between the results obtained from SMPS and MEAD after being normalized. Considering the MEAD is less expensive, less bulky, and easy to use, our results further support the suitability of using MEAD in the field for nanoparticle exposure assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three indoor sources (a gas stove, an electric stove, and an electric toaster oven) of ultrafine particles (UFPs) have been studied in an instrumented test house on the campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Previous studies have reported the concentration of ultrafine particles indoors due to cooking, but have been limited to particles with diameters greater than 10 nm. New technology now makes it possible to measure particles as small as 2 nm. Therefore, NIST conducted a study to measure typical concentrations and estimate emission rates and coagulation rates of UFPs in the size range from 2 to 64 nm. More than 150 tests were completed. Peak concentrations from the gas and electric stovetop burners/coils occurred at a particle size of approximately 5 nm. Total number concentrations were as much as 10 times greater than reported in previous studies of particle sizès above 10 nm. Because of these high concentrations of very small particles, coagulation was the dominant process affecting the evolution of the size distribution after the source was turned off. The observed number concentration changes due to coagulation were fit by models including corrections for van der Waals and viscosity forces and fractal shapes. Indoor/outdoor ratios indicated that less than 5% of the <10 nm particles penetrated the house. This suggests that outdoor sources of these ultrafine particles will not contribute substantially to human exposure if indoor sources are present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]