Recently, a team led by Dr. Wang Feng, a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with Associate Professor Jia Xiuquan and Professor Bao Rui from the Ocean University of China, and Dr. Li Haiyang from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, collaborated to make significant advancements in the field of microdroplet chemistry. The collaborative team has revealed the electrochemical degradation and sedimentation effects of microdroplets on pyrogenic inert carbon in the ocean. These findings have been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Illustration of the electrochemical degradation and sedimentation effect of microdroplets on pyrogenic inert carbon. Image provided by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics.
Every year, approximately 260 million tons of carbon are generated through incomplete combustion of biomass (such as straw, grasslands, and forests), with about one-third of this carbon transported into the ocean via rivers and the atmosphere, presenting significant long-term carbon sequestration potential. However, due to unknown degradation processes in the marine environment, the contribution of pyrogenic carbon to the oceanic carbon sink requires further investigation. Understanding the chemical interaction mechanisms between seawater and pyrogenic carbon is crucial for exploring marine pathways to carbon neutrality.
In this study, based on the phenomenon of seawater microdroplet generation from the ocean surface under wave action, the research team first discovered the charge transfer process between seawater microdroplets and carbon soot. They found an electric potential difference between the water-vapor interface of seawater microdroplets and the water-carbon interface, and further confirmed the electrochemical corrosion mechanism of carbon soot in aerosolized seawater through oxidation of carbon soot and hydrogen production reaction in seawater.
Furthermore, researchers observed that oxidized carbon soot became more enriched in carbon-13 isotopes and underwent rapid sedimentation, providing crucial evidence for the transformation and burial of this type of carbon in the ocean.
Related paper information: https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c00290
