近日，芬兰赫尔辛基大学何旭成团队报道了甲烷磺酸在大气颗粒成核和生长中的作用。相关论文于2026年6月24日发表在《自然》杂志上。

海洋浮游植物产生的二甲基硫（DMS；CH3SCH3）是大气硫的主要来源。其氧化产物包括硫酸（SA；H2SO4）和甲磺酸（MSA；CH3SO3H），在低于10 °C时MSA的产率高于SA。已知SA能够驱动新颗粒物的形成，这些颗粒物随后可能生长并充当云凝结核（CCN），而MSA的作用仍不清楚。

研究组在欧洲核子研究中心CLOUD（宇宙射线户外液滴遗留）舱内的大气条件下进行的实验中表明，在−10 °C以下，MSA与氨（NH3）共同成核，其速率与SA-NH3相当。此外，在−10 °C以下，MSA和SA协同成核，与NH3形成多酸分子簇。即使在超低NH3水平下，在低于9 °C且相对湿度（RH）高于40%的条件下，MSA也能在动力学极限附近驱动颗粒物生长。

由于在寒冷的海洋区域，MSA和SA通常以相近的浓度共存，该研究结果表明，与单独的SA-NH3相比，成核速率可提高至十倍，生长速率可提高至两倍。该全球模型模拟表明，MSA可以增加CCN浓度，尤其是在极地地区。研究组提出，MSA可能是当前和工业化前大气中寒冷、原始海洋区域生物源颗粒物的重要驱动因素，然而全球气候模型尚未将其考虑在内。

附：英文原文

Title: Role of methanesulfonic acid in atmospheric particle nucleation and growth

Author: Baalbaki, Rima, Shen, Jiali, Simon, Mario, Klebach, Hannah, Ruhl, Samuel, DeVivo, Jenna, Wang, Mingyi, Scholz, Wiebke, Dada, Lubna, Rrup, Birte, Stolzenburg, Dominik, Manninen, Hanna E., Sommer, Eva, Caudillo-Plath, Luca, Marie, Guillaume, Friedrich, Martin, Yu, Wenjuan, Leiminger, Markus, Alfaouri, Dina, Amorim, Antonio, Arnoldi-Meadows, Tatjana, Beckmann, Hannah, Berntheusel, Moritz, Brkling, Steffen, Brasseur, Zo, Chiu, Randall, Duplissy, Jonathan, Finkenzeller, Henning, Heinritzi, Martin, Kunkler, Felix, Lamkaddam, Houssni, Lopez, Brandon, Mahfouz, Naser, Makhmutov, Vladimir, Martinez, Monica, Marten, Ruby, Massabo, Dario, Mauldin, Roy, Mentler, Bernhard, Mller, Markus, Philippov, Maxim, Piedehierro, Ana A., Rato, Pedro, Reinecke, Tobias, Richter, Sarah, Russell, Douglas M., Schulze, Benjamin, Surdu, Mihnea, Thakur, Roseline, Tham, Yee Jun, Tian, Ping, Tom, Antnio, Tong, Yandong, Top, Jens, Wagner, Andrea C., Wang, Dongyu S., Wang, Yonghong, Ward, Ryan X., Weber, Stefan K., Welti, Andr, Wu, Yusheng, Zauner-Wieczorek, Marcel, Zhang, Jiangyi, Curtius, Joachim, Donahue, Neil M., El Haddad, Imad, Flagan, Richard C., Hansel, Armin

Issue&Volume: 2026-06-24

Abstract: Dimethylsulfide (DMS; CH3SCH3) from marine phytoplankton is a major source of atmospheric sulfur 1. Its oxidation products include sulfuric acid (SA; H2SO4) and methanesulfonic acid (MSA; CH3SO3H), which has a higher yield than SA below 10 °C 2. Whereas SA is known to drive the formation of new particles 3, which may subsequently grow and act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), the role of MSA remains unclear 4. Here, in experiments performed under atmospheric conditions at the CERN CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets) chamber, we show that MSA nucleates together with ammonia (NH3) below 10 °C, at rates comparable to SA-NH3. Moreover, MSA and SA nucleate synergistically below 10 °C, forming multi-acid molecular clusters with NH3. Even at ultra-low NH3 levels, MSA drives particle growth at or near the kinetic limit below 9 °C and above 40 % relative humidity (RH). Since MSA and SA generally coexist at similar concentrations in cool marine regions, our findings indicate that nucleation rates may be accelerated up to tenfold and growth rates up to twofold compared with SA-NH3 alone. Our global model simulations indicate that MSA can enhance CCN concentrations, especially in polar regions. We propose that MSA might be an important driver of biogenic particles in cool, pristine marine regions of both the present-day and pre-industrial atmospheres, and yet is unaccounted for in global climate models 5.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10810-2

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10810-2

期刊信息

Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504

官方网址：http://www.nature.com/

投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html