π-Hydrogen Bonding of Aromatics on the Surface of Aerosols: Insights from Ab Initio and Molecular Dynamics Simulation.

Molecular level insight into the interaction between volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and aerosols is crucial for improvement of atmospheric chemistry models. In this paper, the interaction between adsorbed toluene, one of the most significant VOCs in the urban atmosphere, and the aqueous surface of aerosols was studied by means of combined molecular dynamics simulations and ab initio quantum chemistry calculations. It is revealed that toluene can be stably adsorbed on the surface of aqueous droplets via hydroxyl-π hydrogen bonding between the H atoms of the water molecules and the C atoms in the aromatic ring.