Articles | Volume 17, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1545-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1545-2024
Research article
 | 
12 Mar 2024
Research article |  | 12 Mar 2024

Absorption of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by polymer tubing: implications for indoor air and use as a simple gas-phase volatility separation technique

Melissa A. Morris, Demetrios Pagonis, Douglas A. Day, Joost A. de Gouw, Paul J. Ziemann, and Jose L. Jimenez

Related authors

A comprehensive evaluation of enhanced temperature influence on gas and aerosol chemistry in the lamp-enclosed oxidation flow reactor (OFR) system
Tianle Pan, Andrew T. Lambe, Weiwei Hu, Yicong He, Minghao Hu, Huaishan Zhou, Xinming Wang, Qingqing Hu, Hui Chen, Yue Zhao, Yuanlong Huang, Doug R. Worsnop, Zhe Peng, Melissa A. Morris, Douglas A. Day, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose-Luis Jimenez, and Shantanu H. Jathar
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-230,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-230, 2023
Preprint under review for AMT
Short summary
Evaluation of the chemical composition of gas- and particle-phase products of aromatic oxidation
Archit Mehra, Yuwei Wang, Jordan E. Krechmer, Andrew Lambe, Francesca Majluf, Melissa A. Morris, Michael Priestley, Thomas J. Bannan, Daniel J. Bryant, Kelly L. Pereira, Jacqueline F. Hamilton, Andrew R. Rickard, Mike J. Newland, Harald Stark, Philip Croteau, John T. Jayne, Douglas R. Worsnop, Manjula R. Canagaratna, Lin Wang, and Hugh Coe
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 9783–9803, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9783-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9783-2020, 2020
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Gases | Technique: Laboratory Measurement | Topic: Instruments and Platforms
Extraction, purification, and clumped isotope analysis of methane (Δ13CDH3 and Δ12CD2H2) from sources and the atmosphere
Malavika Sivan, Thomas Röckmann, Carina van der Veen, and Maria Elena Popa
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2687–2705, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2687-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2687-2024, 2024
Short summary
Response of protonated, adduct, and fragmented ions in Vocus proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-ToF-MS)
Fangbing Li, Dan Dan Huang, Linhui Tian, Bin Yuan, Wen Tan, Liang Zhu, Penglin Ye, Douglas Worsnop, Ka In Hoi, Kai Meng Mok, and Yong Jie Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2415–2427, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2415-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2415-2024, 2024
Short summary
A flexible device to produce a gas stream with a precisely controlled water vapour mixing ratio and isotope composition based on microdrop dispensing technology
Harald Sodemann, Alena Dekhtyareva, Alvaro Fernandez, Andrew Seidl, and Jenny Maccali
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5181–5203, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5181-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5181-2023, 2023
Short summary
Revision of an open-split-based dual-inlet system for elemental and isotope ratio mass spectrometers with a focus on clumped-isotope measurements
Stephan Räss, Peter Nyfeler, Paul Wheeler, Will Price, and Markus Christian Leuenberger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4489–4505, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4489-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4489-2023, 2023
Short summary
Characterisation of gaseous iodine species detection using the multi-scheme chemical ionisation inlet 2 with bromide and nitrate chemical ionisation methods
Xu-Cheng He, Jiali Shen, Siddharth Iyer, Paxton Juuti, Jiangyi Zhang, Mrisha Koirala, Mikko M. Kytökari, Douglas R. Worsnop, Matti Rissanen, Markku Kulmala, Norbert M. Maier, Jyri Mikkilä, Mikko Sipilä, and Juha Kangasluoma
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4461–4487, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4461-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4461-2023, 2023
Short summary

Cited articles

Algrim, L. B., Pagonis, D., de Gouw, J. A., Jimenez, J. L., and Ziemann, P. J.: Measurements and modeling of absorptive partitioning of volatile organic compounds to painted surfaces, Indoor Air, 30, 745–756, https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12654, 2020. 
Asbach, C., Kaminski, H., Lamboy, Y., Schneiderwind, U., Fierz, M., and Todea, A. M.: Silicone sampling tubes can cause drastic artifacts in measurements with aerosol instrumentation based on unipolar diffusion charging, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 50, 1375–1384, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2016.1241858, 2016. 
Chantrey, G. and Rattee, I. D.: The influence of polymer and dye characteristics on diffusion in nylon 66, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 18, 93–103, https://doi.org/10.1002/app.1974.070180108, 1974. 
Chen, S. P. and Ferry, J. D.: The Diffusion of Radioactively Tagged n-Hexadecane and n-Dodecane through Rubbery Polymers. Effects of Temperature, Cross-Linking, and Chemical Structure, Macromolecules, 1, 270–278, https://doi.org/10.1021/ma60003a014, 1968. 
Cox, S. S., Zhao, D., and Little, J. C.: Measuring partition and diffusion coefficients for volatile organic compounds in vinyl flooring, Atmos. Environ., 35, 3823–3830, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(01)00175-3, 2001. 
Download
Short summary
Polymer absorption of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is important to characterize for atmospheric sampling setups (as interactions cause sampling delays) and indoor air quality. Here we test different polymer materials and quantify their absorptive capacities through modeling. We found the main polymers in carpets to be highly absorptive, acting as large reservoirs for indoor pollution. We also demonstrated how polymer tubes can be used as a low-cost gas separation technique.