0000000000965328
AUTHOR
Douglas E. Kinnison
Photodissociation Mechanisms of Major Mercury(II) Species in the Atmospheric Chemical Cycle of Mercury
7 pags., 4 figs.
Photoreduction of gaseous oxidized mercury changes global atmospheric mercury speciation, transport and deposition
9 pags, 8 figs. -- Correction autor: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28455-w http://hdl.handle.net/10261/268181
Gas-Phase Photolysis of Hg(I) Radical Species: A New Atmospheric Mercury Reduction Process
The efficient gas-phase photoreduction of Hg(II) has recently been shown to change mercury cycling significantly in the atmosphere and its deposition to the Earth's surface. However, the photolysis of key Hg(I) species within that cycle is currently not considered. Here we present ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra and cross-sections of HgCl, HgBr, HgI, and HgOH radicals, computed by high-level quantum-chemical methods, and show for the first time that gas-phase Hg(I) photoreduction can occur at time scales that eventually would influence the mercury chemistry in the atmosphere. These results provide new fundamental understanding of the photobehavior of Hg(I) radicals and show that the …