RADICAL

Developing a simple, low-cost method to detect important atmospheric free radicals

Free radicals are an area of intensive research given their impact on our health, the climate and the ozone layer. Free radicals are atoms or groups of atoms with an unpaired electron in an outer shell. Since an atom’s behaviour is directly related to its electrons, an unpaired electron makes an atom highly reactive and eager to ‘steal’ an electron from a neighbouring molecule to stabilise itself. Of course, this makes its neighbour unstable and the cascade continues, potentially wreaking havoc. The measurement of atmospheric free radicals is currently quite complicated, and only a few labs worldwide can do it. The EU-funded RADICAL project is developing a simple, low-cost method to detect important atmospheric free radicals, improving the monitoring of air quality and leading to better predictions of climate change.