Characterization of organic matter in total suspended particles bythermodesorption and pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
ZHAO Jinping , PENG Ping’an , SONG Jianzhong , MA Shexia , SHENG Guoying , FU Jiamo
DOI:
Received February 19, 2009,Revised April 28, 2009, Accepted , Available online
Volume 21,2009,Pages 1658-1666
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The organic matter in tropospheric aerosol plays an important role in atmospheric physical and chemical processes. The bulk of
organic matter, representing a significant proportion of the total suspended particulate (TSP) mass, is bound to polymeric material
whose structure and properties are largely unknown. Here we used thermodesorption gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Td-
GC/MS) to study organic compounds of low molecular mass and pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) to
characterize the chemical structure of macromolecules in TSP samples collected in di erent seasons from di erent sites in Guangzhou.
n-Alkanes, fatty acids and nitriles were the predominant compounds in the thermodesorption products, whereas aromatics, fatty acids,
nitriles and n-alkanes/alkenes were the major compounds in the pyrolysates. The results indicated that aromatics were main units in
macromolecules. The fatty acids and nitriles formed from carboxylic ammonium salts were detected in both thermodesorption products
and pyrolysates at a certain concentration, indicating the importance of these compounds in TSP formation. The TSP source mainly
determined the occurrence of compounds in samples from urban, suburban and forest sites, whereas the TSP source and formation
process maybe controlled the seasonal variation in compounds detected. High levels of nitriles in summer samples from suburban and
forest sites coincide with the release of ammonium from the land and of fatty acids from vegetation at these sites.
