Dr Christian Pfrang DPhil(Oxon) EurChem CSciTeach CSci CChem FHEA

Dr Christian Pfrang

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 5519
Email
c.pfrang@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@chpfrang
View my research portal

Dr Pfrang’s research is in the area of gas-phase and heterogeneous atmospheric chemistry currently focusing on the fate of atmospheric aerosols and their impacts on air quality and climate change.  He is also studying reactions of initiators of atmospheric oxidation (in particular ozone and nitrate radicals) with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), e.g. stress-induced plant emissions.  Experimental studies mainly using levitation, monolayer, X-ray & neutron scattering techniques are complemented by computational work predicting the kinetic behaviour of species of atmospheric importance (e.g. co-developing the aerosol models K2-SUB, KM-SUB and KM-GAP).  Dr Pfrang is also aiming to link atmospheric chemistry to related research topics in meteorology, environmental & plant sciences to advance the understanding of the urban environment.

Qualifications

DPhil in Physical & Atmospheric Chemistry (University of Oxford); BSc in Chemistry (FU Berlin); Vordiplom in Chemistry (TU Munich); Post-Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice (University of Reading)

Teaching

LM Air Pollution Control Technology, LM Carbon Management, Air Pollution Chemistry

Postgraduate supervision

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Aerosol Studies, Gas-phase Kinetics and Reaction Products, Indoor Air Quality, Plant-Pollution Interactions and Urban Greening.

Other activities

  • Journal Advisory Board: Sci
  • Journal Editor: Atmosphere (Section: Aerosols)
  • Member: NERC Peer Review College
  • Royal Society of Chemistry: CChem
  • Science Council: CSciTeach, CSci
  • European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS): EurChem
  • Previous consultancy work for Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), Department for Transport (DfT), STS Instruments & Johnson Matthey
  • Member: alumni associations of St. Hugh’s College (University of Oxford), Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, Carlo-Schmid Programme (csp-network) & Bavarian Elite Academy

Publications

Highlight publications

Ryalls, JMW, Langford, B, Mullinger, N, Bromfield, LM, Nemitz, E, Pfrang, C & Girling, RD 2022, 'Anthropogenic air pollutants reduce insect-mediated pollination services', Environmental Pollution, vol. 297, 118847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118847

Gubb, C, Blanusa, T, Griffiths, A & Pfrang, C 2022, 'Potted plants can remove the pollutant nitrogen dioxide indoors', Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 479-490. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-022-01171-6

Milsom, A, Lees, A, Squires, A & Pfrang, C 2022, 'MultilayerPy (v1.0): a Python-based framework for building, running and optimising kinetic multi-layer models of aerosols and films', Geoscientific Model Development, vol. 15, no. 18, pp. 7139–7151. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7139-2022

Recent publications

Article

Milsom, A, Squires, A, Quant, I, Terrill, N, Huband, S, Woden, B, Cabrera-Martinez, E & Pfrang, C 2022, 'Exploring the Nanostructures Accessible to an Organic Surfactant Atmospheric Aerosol Proxy', Journal of Physical Chemistry A. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.2c04611

Shepherd, RH, King, MD, Rennie, AR, Ward, A, Frey, MM, Brough, N, Eveson, J, Del Vento, S, Milsom, A, Pfrang, C, Skoda, M & Welbourn, R 2022, 'Measurement of gas-phase OH radical oxidation and film thickness of organic films at the air–water interface using material extracted from urban, remote and wood smoke aerosol', Environmental Science: Atmospheres, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 574-590. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2EA00013J

Sebastiani, F, Campbell, RA & Pfrang, C 2022, 'Night-time oxidation at the air–water interface: co-surfactant effects in binary mixtures', Environmental Science: Atmospheres, vol. 2022, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2EA00056C

Ryalls, JMW, Staton, T, Mullinger, N, Bromfield, LM, Langford, B, Pfrang, C, Nemitz, E, Blande, J & Girling, RD 2022, 'Ozone mitigates the adverse effects of diesel exhaust pollutants on ground- active invertebrates in wheat', Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 10, 833088. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.833088

Milsom, A, Squires, A, Skoda, M, Gutfreund, P, Mason, E, Terrill, N & Pfrang, C 2022, 'The evolution of surface structure during simulated atmospheric ageing of nano-scale coatings of an organic surfactant aerosol proxy', Environmental Science: Atmospheres, vol. 2022, d2ea00011c. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2EA00011C

Milsom, A, Squires, AM, Ward, AD & Pfrang, C 2022, 'The impact of molecular self-organisation on the atmospheric fate of a cooking aerosol proxy', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 22, no. 7, pp. 4895-4907. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4895-2022

Milsom, A, Squires, AM, Boswell, JA, Terrill, NJ, Ward, AD & Pfrang, C 2021, 'An organic crystalline state in ageing atmospheric aerosol proxies: spatially resolved structural changes in levitated fatty acid particles', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 21, no. 19, pp. 15003-15021. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15003-2021

Woden, B, Skoda, MWA, Milsom, A, Gubb, C, Maestro, A, Tellam, J & Pfrang, C 2021, 'Ozonolysis of fatty acid monolayers at the air–water interface: organic films may persist at the surface of atmospheric aerosols', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 1325-1340. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1325-2021

Comment/debate

Rami Alfarra, M, Bloss, WJ, Chan, C, Chen, Y, Gani, S, Han, Y, Harrison, RM, Khan, MAH, Kim, S, Lee, J, Pfrang, C, Poschl, U, Shi, Z, Styring, P, Van Pinxteren, D, Wallington, TJ & Zhu, T 2021, 'General discussion: sources, sinks and mitigation methods; Evaluation of health impacts', Faraday Discussions, vol. 226, pp. 607-616. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1FD90012A

Alam, MS, Bloss, W, Brean, J, Brimblecombe, P, Chan, C, Chen, Y, Coe, H, Fu, P, Gani, S, Hamilton, J, Harrison, R, Jiang, J, Kulmala, M, Lugon, L, McFiggans, G, Mehra, A, Milsom, A, Nelson, B, Pfrang, C, Sartelet, K, Shi, Z, Srivastava, D, Stewart, G, Styring, P, Su, H, Van Pinxteren, D, Velasco, E & Yu, JZ 2021, 'General discussion: Aerosol formation and growth; VOC sources and secondary organic aerosols', Faraday Discussions, vol. 226, pp. 479-501. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1FD90011K

Bloss, W, Brimblecombe, P, Chen, Y, Coe, H, Gani, S, Gen, M, Grimmond, S, Harrison, R, McFiggans, G, Mihaylova, L, Pfrang, C, Shi, Z, Slater, J, Srivastava, D, Styring, P, Velasco, E, Wang, P & Yu, JZ 2021, 'General discussion: Urban air quality; meteorological influences and air quality trends', Faraday Discussions, vol. 226, pp. 191-206. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1FD90014E

Alshammari, D, Bloss, W, Chen, Y, Chow, JC, Gani, S, Harrison, R, Hu, D, Li, G, McFiggans, G, Milsom, A, Oyarzun Aravena, AM, Pfrang, C, Shi, Z, Srivastava, D, Styring, P, Su, H, Watson, JG & Xu, J 2021, 'General discussion: Multiphase atmospheric chemistry, and source apportionment', Faraday Discussions, vol. 226, pp. 314-333. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1FD90015C

Altuwayjiri, AH, Bloss, W, Harrison, R, Mihaylova, L, Molina, LT, Oyarzún Aravena, AM, Pfrang, C, Schauer, J, Slater, J, Srivastava, D, Styring, P, Wallington, TJ, Wang, P & Watson, JG 2021, 'General discussion: trends in emissions concentrations', Faraday Discussions, vol. 226, pp. 100-111. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1FD90013G

Preprint

Milsom, A, Lees, A, Squires, AM & Pfrang, C 2022 'MultilayerPy (v1.0): a Python-based framework for building, running and optimising kinetic multi-layer models of aerosols and films' European Geosciences Union. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-143

Review article

Maung, T, Bishop, J, Holt, E, Turner, A & Pfrang, C 2022, 'Indoor air pollution and the health of vulnerable groups: a systematic review focused on particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and their effects on children and people with pre-existing lung disease', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 19, no. 14, 8752. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148752

View all publications in research portal