Reactive uptake of N 2 O 5 by atmospheric aerosol is dominated by interfacial processes

On the surface The uptake and hydrolysis of N 2 O 5 from the atmosphere by aqueous aerosols was long thought to occur by solvation and subsequent hydrolysis in the bulk of the aerosol. However, this mechanistic hypothesis was unverifiable because of the fast reaction kinetics. Galib et al. used molecular simulations to show instead that the mechanism is the inverse: Interfacial hydrolysis is followed by solvation into the interior. Their reactive uptake model is consistent with some existing experimental observations. Science , this issue p. 921