Editing Soot (section)

== Description ==
The [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]] (IPCC) adopted the description of soot particles given in the glossary of Charlson and Heintzenberg (1995), "Particles formed during the quenching of gases at the outer edge of flames of organic vapours, consisting predominantly of carbon, with lesser amounts of oxygen and hydrogen present as carboxyl and phenolic groups and exhibiting an imperfect graphitic structure".<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Charlson |editor-first=R. J. |editor2-last=Heintzenberg |editor2-first=J. |year=1995 |title=Aerosol Forcing of Climate |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |location=New York, NY |page=406 |isbn=0-471-95693-7 }}</ref>

Formation of soot is a complex process, an evolution of matter in which a number of molecules undergo many chemical and physical reactions within a few milliseconds.<ref name="modeling"/> Soot always contains nanoparticles of graphite and diamond, a phenomenon known as gemmy soot. Soot is a powder-like form of [[amorphous carbon]]. Gas-phase soot contains [[polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon]]s (PAHs).<ref name="modeling"/><ref>Rundel, Ruthann, "Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Phthalates, and Phenols", in Indoor Air Quality Handbook, John Spengleer, Jonathan M. Samet, John F. McCarthy (eds), pp. 34.1-34.2, 2001</ref> The PAHs in soot are known [[mutagens]]<ref>Rundel, Ruthann, "Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Phthalates, and Phenols", in Indoor Air Quality Handbook, John Spengleer, Jonathan M. Samet, John F. McCarthy (eds), pp. 34.18-34.21, 2001</ref> and are classified as a "known human [[carcinogen]]" by the [[International Agency for Research on Cancer]] (IARC).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.inchem.org/documents/iarc/vol35/soots.html |title=Soots (IARC Summary & Evaluation, Volume 35, 1985) |publisher=Inchem.org |date=1998-04-20 |access-date=2013-12-04}}</ref> Soot forms during incomplete combustion from precursor molecules such as acetylene. It consists of agglomerated [[nanoparticle]]s with diameters between 6 and 30&nbsp;[[nanometre|nm]]. The soot particles can be mixed with metal oxides and with minerals and can be coated with [[sulfuric acid]].<ref name="modeling"/><ref name=Niessner>{{cite journal |last=Niessner |first=R. |year=2014 |title=The Many Faces of Soot: Characterization of Soot Nanoparticles Produced by Engines |journal=Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. |volume=53 |issue= 46|pages=12366–12379 |doi=10.1002/anie.201402812 |pmid=25196472 }}</ref>