The Si-SOA project was lead by the University of Birmingham and ran from April 2018 - June 2019. The project aimed to advance the understanding of an important aspect of air pollution - formation of silicon-organic aerosols via atmospheric oxidation of silicon-containing volatile organic compounds from the personal care products and industries. The project sought to provide definitive evidence on the formation of silicon-containing secondary organic aerosols (Si-SOAs) via photochemical atmospheric processing by using the novel techniques at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics and the University of Birmingham.

Project outputs will be of interest to research scientists working in the field of atmospheric chemical processing and human health. The results of the project support the study of the oxidation of Si-containing volatile organic compounds (Si-VOCs), which are widely used in personal care products and industrial applications. Si-VOCs are the most abundant VOCs in indoor air and its concentration in Chinese megacities can be over 10 microgram per cubic meter (which is extremely high). Si-VOCs can be oxidised by hydroxyl radicals and form secondary organic aerosols (SOAs), which contributes to the regional haze pollution.