Infrared absorption spectra, radiative efficiencies, and global warming potentials of perfluorocarbons: Comparison between experiment and theory

Bravo, I., Aranda, A., Hurley, M. D., Marston, G., Nutt, D. R., Shine, K. P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2672-9978, Smith, K. and Wallington, T. J. (2010) Infrared absorption spectra, radiative efficiencies, and global warming potentials of perfluorocarbons: Comparison between experiment and theory. Journal of Geophysical Research, 115. D24317. ISSN 0148-0227 doi: 10.1029/2010JD014771

Abstract/Summary

Experimentally and theoretically determined infrared spectra are reported for a series of straight-chain perfluorocarbons: C2F6, C3F8, C4F10, C5F12, C6F14, and C8F18. Theoretical spectra were determined using both density functional (DFT) and ab initio methods. Radiative efficiencies (REs) were determined using the method of Pinnock et al. (1995) and combined with atmospheric lifetimes from the literature to determine global warming potentials (GWPs). Theoretically determined absorption cross sections were within 10% of experimentally determined values. Despite being much less computationally expensive, DFT calculations were generally found to perform better than ab initio methods. There is a strong wavenumber dependence of radiative forcing in the region of the fundamental C-F vibration, and small differences in wavelength between band positions determined by theory and experiment have a significant impact on the REs. We apply an empirical correction to the theoretical spectra and then test this correction on a number of branched chain and cyclic perfluoroalkanes. We then compute absorption cross sections, REs, and GWPs for an additional set of perfluoroalkenes.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/18161
Identification Number/DOI	10.1029/2010JD014771
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > Department of Chemistry
Publisher	American Geophysical Union
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