Evolved gas analysis of secondary organic aerosols

Abstract

Secondary organic aerosols have been characterized by evolved gas analysis (EGA). Hydrocarbons selected as aerosol precursors were representative of anthropogenic emissions (cyclohexene, cyclopentene, 1-decene and 1-dodecene, n-dodecane, o-xylene, and 1, 3, 5-tri-methylbenzene) and of biogenic emissions (the terpenes α-pinene, β-pinene and d-limonene and the sesquiterpene trans-caryophyllene). Also analyzed by EGA were samples of secondary, primary (highway tunnel), and ambient (urban) aerosols before and after exposure to ozone and other photochemical oxidants. The major features of the EGA thermograms (amount of CO2 evolved as a function of temperature) are described. The usefulness and limitations of EGA data for source apportionment of atmospheric particulate carbon are briefly discussed. © 1994 Elsevier Science Inc.