1,1,3- 1Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland (robert.skog@helsinki.fi)
- 2Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- 3Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is an important part of the chemical processes occurring in the Venusian atmosphere, such as being responsible for the formation of sulfuric acid clouds.[1] As a part of the atmospheric sulfur cycle on Venus, SO2 is also a key player in the formation of other sulfur-containing species, some of which could possibly explain the enigmatic absorption feature seen between 320-400 nm in the atmosphere.[2]
Recently published computational and experimental work showed that SO2 can abstract hydrogens from water and hydrocarbons.[3,4] However, the ground state of SO2 is not reactive in this way; instead, SO2 must be electronically excited for these reactions to occur. This opens a world of new and exciting bimolecular photochemistry, especially in the context of the atmosphere on Venus.
In this work we investigate the bimolecular reactions of electronically excited SO2 with other species found in the atmosphere of Venus. Our results provide reaction rate constants, ready to be implemented into the different atmospheric models, which are currently missing photo-excited SO2 bimolecular chemistry.
[1] D.V. Titov ei al., Space Sci. Rev., 2018, 214, 126. DOI: 10.1007/s11214-018-0552-z
[2] E. Marcq et al., Icarus, 2020, 355, 113368. DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2019.07.002.
[3] J.A. Kroll et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 2018, 122(18), 4465-4469. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.8b03524
[4] J.A. Kroll et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 2018, 122(39), 7782-7789. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.8b04643
How to cite: Skog, R., Kurtén, T., and Frandsen, B.: Investigating the Reactivity of Excited State Sulfur Dioxide in the Atmosphere of Venus, EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2025, Helsinki, Finland, 7–12 Sep 2025, EPSC-DPS2025-551, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc-dps2025-551, 2025.
