Articles | Volume 22, issue 22
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14971-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14971-2022
Research article
 | 
24 Nov 2022
Research article |  | 24 Nov 2022

Chromophores and chemical composition of brown carbon characterized at an urban kerbside by excitation–emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry

Feng Jiang, Junwei Song, Jonas Bauer, Linyu Gao, Magdalena Vallon, Reiner Gebhardt, Thomas Leisner, Stefan Norra, and Harald Saathoff

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Cited articles

Baduel, C., Voisin, D., and Jaffrezo, J. L.: Seasonal variations of concentrations and optical properties of water soluble HULIS collected in urban environments, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 4085–4095, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-4085-2010, 2010. 
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Chen, Q. C., Mu, Z., Song, W. H., Wang, Y. Q., Yang, Z. H., Zhang, L. X., and Zhang, Y. L.: Size-Resolved Characterization of the Chromophores in Atmospheric Particulate Matter From a Typical Coal-Burning City in China, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 124, 10546–10563, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019jd031149, 2019. 
Chen, Q. C., Li, J. W., Hua, X. Y., Jiang, X. T., Mu, Z., Wang, M. M., Wang, J., Shan, M., Yang, X. D., Fan, X. J., Song, J. Z., Wang, Y. Q., Guan, D. J., and Du, L.: Identification of species and sources of atmospheric chromophores by fluorescence excitation-emission matrix with parallel factor analysis, Sci. Total Environ., 718, 137322, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137322, 2020. 
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We studied brown carbon aerosol during typical summer and winter periods in downtown Karlsruhe in southwestern Germany. The chromophore and chemical composition of brown carbon was determined by excitation–emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The chromophore types and sources were substantially different in winter and summer. Humic-like chromophores of different degrees of oxidation dominated and were associated with molecules of different molecular weight and nitrogen content.
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