Evolution of the chromophore aerosols and its driving factors in summertime Xi'an, Northwest China

Compositional and optical characteristics of aqueous brown carbon and HULIS in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain using a coupled EEM PARAFAC, FT-IR and 1H NMR approach

This study provides insights into the fluorophoric composition of aqueous brown carbon (BrCaq) and chemically-separated humic-like substances (HULIS): neutral HULIS (HULIS-n; at pH = 7) and acidic HULIS (HULIS-a; at pH = 2) on a seasonal and day-night basis in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP), India. A coupled approach including excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) model, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy was employed to understand the links between structural, compositional and fluorophoric characteristics of BrCaq and HULIS fractions. HULIS fluorophores (HULISfluoro) with varying oxidation states transported from the northwest IGP were dominant during biomass burning seasons (post-monsoon and winter), while protein-like fluorophores (PRLISfluoro) from marine emissions showed large contributions during summer. HULIS-n moieties were mostly primary in nature with higher conjugation, while HULIS-a were associated with secondarily formed and aged species with a larger contribution from degradation products. A substantial presence of tyrosine-like proteins in both chemically-separated HULIS fractions indicated that atmospheric HULIS is not entirely humic or fulvic-like in the eastern IGP. Finally, the dominance of H-C-O groups across seasons suggested consistent fossil fuel signatures along with season-specific influence of photodegradable cellulose from marine organisms in the summer and biomass burning in the post-monsoon and winter.

Molecular signatures and formation mechanisms of water-soluble chromophores in particulate matter from Karachi in Pakistan

Excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy is a widely-used method for characterizing the chemical components of brown carbon (BrC). However, the molecular basics and formation mechanisms of chromophores, which are decomposed by parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis, are not yet fully understood. In this study, we characterized the water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) in aerosols collected from Karachi, Pakistan, using EEM spectroscopy and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). We identified three PARAFAC components, including two humic-like components (C1 and C2) and one phenolic-like species (C3). We determined the molecular families associated with each component by performing Spearman correlation analysis between FT-ICR MS peaks and PARAFAC component intensities. We found that the C1 and C2 components were associated with nitrogen-enriched compounds, where C2 with the longest emission wavelength exhibited a higher level of aromaticity, N content, and oxygenation than C1. The C3 associated formulas have fewer nitrogen-containing species, a lower unsaturation degree, and a lower oxidation state. An oxidation pathway was identified as an important process in the formation of C1 and C2 components at the molecular level, particularly for the assigned CHON compounds associated with the gas-phase oxidation process, despite their diverse precursor types. Numerous C2 formulas were found in the "potential BrC" region and overlapped with the BrC-associated formulas. It can be inferred that the compounds that fluoresce C2 contributed considerably to the light absorption of BrC. These findings are essential for future studies utilizing the EEM-PARAFAC method to explore the sources, processes, and compositions of atmospheric BrC.

Molecular-level transformations of biomass burning-derived water-soluble organic carbon during dark aqueous OH oxidation: Insights from absorption, fluorescence, high-performance size exclusion chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis

Biomass burning (BB) releases large amounts of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), which would undergo heterogenous oxidation processes that induce transformations in both molecular structures and compositions within BB WSOC. This study designed an aqueous oxidation initiated by OH radicals in the absence of light for WSOC extracted from smoke particles generated by burning of corn straw and fir wood. The BB WSOC was comprehensively characterized using a combination of UV-visible spectra, excitation-emission matrix fluorescence in conjunction with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC), high-performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) analyses. Over the course of oxidation, both chromophores and fluorophores exhibited gradual decreases. Moreover, EEM-PARAFAC revealed a preferential degradation of larger-sized protein-like/phenol-like organic matters, accompanied by the accumulation and/or formation of humic-like substances in aged BB WSOC. HPSEC analysis showed notable changes in molecular weight (MW) distributions for both types of BB WSOC during oxidation. Specifically, high MW species (>1 kDa) displayed a tendency to form along with oxidation, possibly attributed to the formation of assemblies via intermolecular weak forces. After oxidation, evidence of CHO compound degradation and enrichment/formation of CHON compounds was observed for both types of BB WSOC. Remarkably, the resistant, degraded and produced molecules for BB WSOC were dominated by CHO (38-73 %) and lignin-like molecules (41-47 %), suggesting diverse responses to oxidation within these two groups. Furthermore, polyphenols experienced selective degradation, while CHON, aliphatic and poly-aromatic molecules tended to form during the oxidation process for both types of BB WSOC. In summary, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the molecular-level transformations undergone by BB WSOC during dark aqueous OH oxidation. The findings significantly contribute to our insights into atmospheric evolution of BB WSOC, thereby playing a crucial role in accurately assessing their effects within climate models and informing policy decisions.

Development and performance evaluation of online monitors for near real-time measurement of total and water-soluble organic carbon in fine and coarse ambient PM

In this study, we developed two online monitors for total organic carbon (TOC) and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) measurements in fine (dp < 2.5μm) and coarse (2.5μm < dp < 10μm) particulate matter (PM), respectively. Their performance has been evaluated in laboratory and field tests to demonstrate the feasibility of using these monitors to measure near real-time concentrations, with consideration of their potential for being employed in long-term measurements. The fine PM collection setup was equipped with a versatile aerosol concentration enrichment system (VACES) connected to an aerosol-into-liquid-sampler (AILS), whereas two virtual impactors (VIs) in tandem with a modified BioSampler were used to collect coarse PM. These particle collection setups were in tandem with a Sievers M9 TOC analyzer to read TOC and WSOC concentrations in aqueous samples hourly. The average hourly TOC concentration measured by our developed monitors in fine and coarse PM were 5.17 ± 2.41 and 0.92 ± 0.29 μg/m3, respectively. In addition, our TOC readings showed good agreement and were comparable with those quantified using Sunset Lab EC/OC analyzer operating in parallel as a reference. Furthermore, we conducted field tests to produce diurnal profiles of fine PM-bound WSOC, which can show the effects of ambient temperature on maximum values in the nighttime chemistry of the winter, as well as on increased photochemical activities in afternoon peaks during the summer. According to our experimental campaign, WSOC mean values during the study period (3.07 μg/m3 for the winter and 2.7 μg/m3 for the summer) were in a comparable range with those of earlier studies in Los Angeles. Overall, our results corroborate the performance of our developed monitors in near real-time measurements of TOC and WSOC, which can be employed for future source apportionment studies in Los Angeles and other areas, aiding in understanding the health impacts of different pollution sources.

Effects of aerosol water content and acidity on the light absorption of atmospheric humic-like substances in winter

Atmospheric humic-like substances (HULIS) could affect regional climate due to their strong light-absorbing capacity. Daily fine particulate matter (PM2.5) samples were collected from December 18, 2016 to January 8, 2017 at an urban site in Chongqing, Southwest China. The mean concentration of HULIS in terms of carbon (HULIS-C) was 6.4 ± 3.4 μg m-3, accounting for 72% of water-soluble organic carbon. The mass absorption efficiency at 365 nm (MAE365) and absorption Ångström index (AAE) of atmospheric HULIS were 2.8 ± 0.30 m2 g-1 C and 4.6 ± 0.37, respectively. Good correlations between the light absorption coefficients of HULIS at 365 nm (Abs365) and the concentrations of K+, elemental carbon, NO3-, and NH4+ were observed, with correlation coefficients higher than 0.83, indicating that biomass burning and secondary formation were potential sources of light-absorbing HULIS, as evidenced by abundant fluorescent components related to less-oxygenated HULIS. Comparing the changes in Abs365 values, concentrations of major water-soluble inorganic ions and carbonaceous compounds in PM2.5, and environmental factors during the clean and pollution periods, we found that extensive biomass burning during the pollution period contributed significantly to the increase of Abs365 values. Moreover, the aerosol pH during the pollution period was close to 4, and NO2 concentration and aerosol water content were about 1.6 and 2.7 times higher than those during the clean period, respectively, which were favorable to form secondary HULIS through aqueous phase reactions in the presence of high NOx, resulting in an evident increase in its light absorption. Knowledge generated from this study is critical for evaluating the regional radiative forcing of brown carbon in southwest China.

Investigating the molecular weight distribution of atmospheric water-soluble brown carbon using high-performance size exclusion chromatography coupled with diode array and fluorescence detectors

Atmospheric brown carbon (BrC) contain amounts of organic species, but their molecular weight (MW) distributions is still poorly understood. This study applied high-performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) coupled with a diode array detector (DAD) and fluorescence detector (FLD) to characterize the MW distributions of typical chromophores and fluorophores within water-soluble BrC. The investigation focused on the spring season, encompassing both typical urban and rural aerosols. Our results showed that chromophores (at 254 and 365 nm), and humic-like and protein-like fluorophores identified by excitation-emission matrix parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC) within BrC were broadly distributed along the MW continuum (∼50-20,000 Da). This suggests that BrC mainly comprises complex chromophores and fluorophores with heterogeneous molecular sizes. High-MW (HMW, >1 kDa) species (66%-74%) dominated the chromophores at 254 and 365 nm. However, the latter chromophores were enriched with more HMW species. This result suggested that the HMW chromophores might contribute more to BrC absorption at longer wavelengths. The PARAFAC-derived fluorescent components also exhibited different MW distributions. Three humic-like substances (HULIS) were all dominated by HMW fractions (51%-74%), but protein-like fluorescent component (PLOM) enriched low-MW (LMW, <1 kDa) species (60%-66%). Furthermore, the molecular size (i.e., weight-averaged and number-averaged MW) and the ratios between HMW and LMW species decreased in the order highly-oxygenated HULIS > less-oxygenated HULIS > PLOM, indicating that the fluorophores with longer Em were generally related to larger MW. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the molecular size of individual fluorescent components within aerosol BrC. The results obtained here enhanced our knowledge of heterogeneous composition, complex physicochemical properties, and potential atmospheric fates of aerosol BrC.

Characterization of water-soluble brown carbon in atmospheric fine particles over Xi'an, China: Implication of aqueous brown carbon formation from biomass burning

Brown carbon (BrC) aerosols can affect not only the climate but also human health, however, the light absorption, chemical compositions, and formation mechanisms of BrC are still uncertain, which leads to uncertainties in the accurate estimation of its climate and health impacts. In this study, highly time - resolved brown carbon (BrC) in fine particles was investigated in Xi'an using offline aerosol mass spectrometer analysis. The light absorption coefficient (b_abs365) and mass absorption efficiency (MAE₃₆₅) at 365 nm of water-soluble organic aerosol (WSOA) generally increased with oxygen-to-carbon (O/C) ratios, indicating that oxidized OA could have more impacts on BrC light absorption. Meanwhile, the light absorption appeared to increase generally with the increases of nitrogen-to-carbon (N/C) ratios and water-soluble organic nitrogen; strong correlations (R of 0.76 for C_xH_yN_p⁺ and R of 0.78 for C_xH_yO_zN_p⁺) between b_abs365 and the N - containing organic ion families were observed, suggesting that the N - containing compounds are the effective BrC chromophores. b_abs365 correlated relatively well with BBOA (r of 0.74) and OOA (R of 0.57), but weakly correlated with CCOA (R of 0.33), indicating that BrC in Xi'an was likely to be associated with biomass burning and secondary sources. A multiple linear regression model was applied to apportion b_abs365 to contributions of different factors resolved from positive matrix factorization on water-soluble organic aerosols (OA) and obtained MAE₃₆₅ values of different OA factors. We found that biomass-burning organic aerosol (BBOA) dominated the b_abs365 (48.3 %), followed by oxidized organic aerosol (OOA, 33.6 %) and coal combustion organic aerosol (CCOA, 18.1 %). We further observed that nitrogen-containing organic matter (i.e., C_xH_yN_p⁺ and C_xH_yO_zN_p⁺) increased with the increase of OOA/WSOA and the decrease of BBOA/WSOA, especially under high ALWC conditions. Our work offered proper observation evidence that BBOA is oxidized through the aqueous formation to produce BrC in Xi'an, China.