| Title: | Source Diversity of Intermediate Volatility n-Alkanes Revealed by Compound-Specific delta(13)C-deltaD Isotopes |
| Author(s): | Tang T; Cheng Z; Xu B; Zhang B; Li J; Zhang W; Wang K; Zhang G; |
| Address: | "State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou510640, P. R. China. Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha410125, P.R. China. CAS Centre for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, P.R. China" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1520-5851 (Electronic) 0013-936X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Intermediate volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) are important precursors of secondary organic aerosols, and their sources remain poorly defined. N-alkanes represent a considerable portion of IVOCs in atmosphere, which can be well identified and quantified out of the complex IVOC pool. To investigate the potential source diversity of intermediate volatility n-alkanes (IVnAs, nC(12)-nC(20)), we apportioned the sources of IVnAs in the atmosphere of four North China cities, based on their compound-specific delta(13)C-deltaD isotope compositions and Bayesian model analysis. The concentration level of IVnAs reached 1195 +/- 594 ng/m(3). The delta(13)C values of IVnAs ranged -32.3 to -27.6 per thousand and deltaD values -161 to -90 per thousand. The deltaD values showed a general increasing trend toward higher carbon number alkanes, albeit a zigzag odd-even prevalence. Bayesian MixSIAR model using delta(13)C and deltaD compositions revealed that the source patterns of individual IVnAs were inconsistent; the relative contributions of liquid fossil combustion were higher for lighter IVnAs (e.g., nC(12)-nC(13)), while those of coal combustion were higher for heavier IVnAs (e.g., nC(17)-nC(20)). This result agrees with principal component analysis of the dual isotope data. Overall, coal combustion, liquid fossil fuel combustion, and biomass burning contributed about 47.8 +/- 0.1, 35.7 +/- 4.0, and 16.3 +/- 4.2% to the total IVnAs, respectively, highlighting the importance of coal combustion as an IVnA source in North China. Our study demonstrates that the dual-isotope approach is a powerful tool for source apportionment of atmospheric IVOCs" |
| Keywords: | Aerosols/analysis *Air Pollutants/analysis Alkanes/analysis Bayes Theorem Carbon China Coal Environmental Monitoring Fossil Fuels Isotopes *Volatile Organic Compounds IVOCs dual-isotope (delta13C and deltaD) n-alkanes source apportionment; |
| Notes: | "MedlineTang, Tiangang Cheng, Zhineng Xu, Buqing Zhang, Bolong Li, Jun Zhang, Wei Wang, Kelin Zhang, Gan eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2022/10/08 Environ Sci Technol. 2022 Oct 18; 56(20):14262-14271. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c02156. Epub 2022 Oct 7" |
