Articles | Volume 22, issue 20
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13739-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13739-2022
Research article
 | 
24 Oct 2022
Research article |  | 24 Oct 2022

Potential underestimation of ambient brown carbon absorption based on the methanol extraction method and its impacts on source analysis

Zhenqi Xu, Wei Feng, Yicheng Wang, Haoran Ye, Yuhang Wang, Hong Liao, and Mingjie Xie

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Cited articles

Al-Abadleh, H. A.: Aging of atmospheric aerosols and the role of iron in catalyzing brown carbon formation, Environ. Sci. Atmos., 1, 297–345, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EA00038A, 2021. 
Atwi, K., Cheng, Z., El Hajj, O., Perrie, C., and Saleh, R.: A dominant contribution to light absorption by methanol-insoluble brown carbon produced in the combustion of biomass fuels typically consumed in wildland fires in the United States, Environ. Sci. Atmos., 2, 182–191, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EA00065A, 2022. 
Bai, Z., Zhang, L., Cheng, Y., Zhang, W., Mao, J., Chen, H., Li, L., Wang, L., and Chen, J.: Water/methanol-insoluble brown carbon can dominate aerosol-enhanced light absorption in port cities, Environ. Sci. Technol., 54, 14889–14898, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c03844, 2020. 
Chen, Y. and Bond, T. C.: Light absorption by organic carbon from wood combustion, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 1773–1787, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-1773-2010, 2010. 
Cheng, Z., Atwi, K., Hajj, O. E., Ijeli, I., Fischer, D. A., Smith, G., and Saleh, R.: Discrepancies between brown carbon light-absorption properties retrieved from online and offline measurements, Aerosol Sci. Technol., 55, 92–103, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2020.1820940, 2021. 
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This work uses a solvent (DMF) that can efficiently dissolve low-volatility OC to examine BrC absorption and sources, which will benefit future investigations on the physicochemical properties of large organic molecules. The study results also shed light on potential sources for methanol-insoluble OC. These results highlight the importance of testing different solvents to investigate the structures and light absorption of low-volatility BrC.
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