Research project Brake wear emissions - a hidden source of volatile organic compounds and secondary particles

Road traffic is one of the main sources of air pollution in cities. In the past, most air pollutants from road traffic were emitted from the tailpipe of vehicles (exhaust emissions). However, exhaust emissions are well regulated these days and have therefore decreased a lot. This is not the case for emissions from other traffic-related processes, such as the wear of car brakes. While airborne particles emitted from braking have already been studied in detail, we know much less about the gases that can be also emitted and about what happens to those gases once they are part of the outdoor air.
In this project, we will therefore conduct laboratory experiments with different types of brake materials to measure which gases are released from braking, and how much of each gas ends up in the air. We will also study how the gases react with other chemicals in the air to understand what will happen to them over time.