Characterization of Particulate-Phase High Molecular Weight Mono-Carbonyls (C# > 5) and Dicarbonyls in Urban Atmosphere of Xi’an, China

Abstract

An analytical method to quantify particulate-phase high molecular weight mono-carbonyls (C# > 5) and di-carbonyls has been developed by adopting 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) derivatization followed by high performance liquid chromatography/ultra-violet (HPLC/UV) detection. Satisfactory reproducibility and precision of the measurements were achieved. This method was applied to measure the carbonyls in PM 2.5 collected on quartz-fiber filters, sampled in Xi'an, China, from 2008 to 2009. Nonanaldehyde was the most abundant compound, followed by octanaldehyde, hexanaldehyde and heptaldehyde, accounting for 40%, 20%, 12% and 11% in the total quantified carbonyls. For dicarbonyls, the concentration of methylglyoxal was much higher than that of glyoxal. The seasonal variations of the particulate-phase mono-carbonyls and dicarbonyls were similar to those in the gas-phase, namely winter > autumn > spring > summer (except octanaldehyde). A strong correlation among those carbonyls was observed in winter, resulting from low temperature partitioning, weaker photochemical reaction, and more primary emission sources. In contrast, in summer, vehicle emissions, cooking emissions and photochemical reactions are the major pollution source in Xi'an.

Characterization and seasonal variations of levoglucosan in fine particulate matter in Xi’an, China

“…Even if there is only a small fraction of glyoxal partitioning onto particles, it can still affect the global secondary organic aerosol (SOA) budget significantly. Dai et al (2012) reported an average PM 2.5 glyoxal concentration of 0.7 AE 0.4 ng m À3 during same sampling period at Xi'an, with the highest concentration of 1.1 ng m À3 in winter. As shown in Table 1, there was a strong correlation between levoglucosan and glyoxal (R ¼ 0.80) concentrations.…”

“…Twenty-four-hour PM 2.5 sampling was performed every sixth day (from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. the next day, local standard time [LST]) using TE-6070MFC hi-vol PM 2.5 air sampler (Tisch, Cleveland, OH, USA) at a flow rate of 1.0 m 3 min À1 from 5 July 2008 to 27 June 2009 (Dai et al, 2012). Samples were collected on 203 mm  254 mm quartz-fiber filters (Whatman QM/A, Clifton, NJ, USA), which were prefired at 800 C for 3 hr before sampling in order to remove contaminants.…”

“…a Boldface indicates that the correlation coefficient is higher than 0.60. b Data from Dai et al (2012). measurement and very low concentrations.…”

A new agent for derivatizing carbonyl species used to investigate limonene ozonolysis

“…For carbonyl compounds there have been numerous publications regarding detection and quantification using either dinitrophenyl hydrazine, methoxyamine, or O -(2,3,4,5,6-pentalfluorobenzyl)hydroxyamine (PFBHA) (Cirera-Domenech et al, 2013; Dai et al, 2012; Forester and Wells, 2009; Gomez Alvarez et al, 2012; Halket and Zaikin, 2005; Hudson et al, 2011; Kowalewski and Gierczak, 2011; Lopez-Aparicio and Hak, 2013; Rossignol et al, 2012). Current methodologies have included derivatization techniques to transform these compounds for gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) detection.…”

Levels and Health Risk of Carbonyl Compounds in Air of the Library in Guangzhou, South China

“…In the high molecular weight carbonyls (C 6 -C 12 ), nonanaldehyde was the most abundant species with a mean value of 0.95 µg m -3 . Similarly, Dai et al (2012) reported that nonanaldehyde was the most abundant compound among high molecular weight mono-carbonyls (C# > 5) and di-carbonyls in urban atmosphere of Xi'an, China. The average concentrations of the other compounds were less than 1.0 µg m -3 (Table 2), accounting for < 10% of the ∑ 18carb .…”