Articles | Volume 26, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-2785-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-2785-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
24 Feb 2026
Research article |
| 24 Feb 2026
| 24 Feb 2026
Understanding divergent brown carbon photobleaching rates from molecular perspective
Yanting Qiu
State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, International Joint Research Center for Atmospheric Research (IJRC), College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
Tao Qiu
Key Lab of Groundwater Resources and Environment of the Ministry of Education, College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China
Yuechen Liu
National Institute of Metrology, Beijing 100029, China
Yu Gu
Key Lab of Groundwater Resources and Environment of the Ministry of Education, College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China
Ruiqi Man
State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, International Joint Research Center for Atmospheric Research (IJRC), College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
Dapeng Liang
Key Lab of Groundwater Resources and Environment of the Ministry of Education, College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China
Taomou Zong
State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, International Joint Research Center for Atmospheric Research (IJRC), College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
Zhijun Wu
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, International Joint Research Center for Atmospheric Research (IJRC), College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, 210044, Nanjing, China
State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, International Joint Research Center for Atmospheric Research (IJRC), College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, 210044, Nanjing, China
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The experiments of primary emissions and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from urban lifestyle sources (cooking and vehicles) were conducted. The mass spectral features of primary organic aerosol (POA) and SOA were characterized by using a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer. This work, for the first time, establishes the vehicle and cooking SOA source profiles and can be further used as source constraints in the OA source apportionment in the ambient atmosphere.
Huan Song, Keding Lu, Can Ye, Huabin Dong, Shule Li, Shiyi Chen, Zhijun Wu, Mei Zheng, Limin Zeng, Min Hu, and Yuanhang Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13713–13727, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13713-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13713-2021, 2021
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Secondary sulfate aerosols are an important component of fine particles in severe air pollution events. We calculated the sulfate formation rates via a state-of-the-art multiphase model constrained to the observed values. We showed that transition metals in urban aerosols contribute significantly to sulfate formation during haze periods and thus play an important role in mitigation strategies and public health measures in megacities worldwide.
Yu Wang, Aristeidis Voliotis, Yunqi Shao, Taomou Zong, Xiangxinyue Meng, Mao Du, Dawei Hu, Ying Chen, Zhijun Wu, M. Rami Alfarra, and Gordon McFiggans
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11303–11316, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11303-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11303-2021, 2021
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Aerosol phase behaviour plays a profound role in atmospheric physicochemical processes. We designed dedicated chamber experiments to study the phase state of secondary organic aerosol from biogenic and anthropogenic mixed precursors. Our results highlight the key role of the organic–inorganic ratio and relative humidity in phase state, but the sources and organic composition are less important. The result provides solid laboratory evidence for understanding aerosol phase in a complex atmosphere.
Benjamin A. Nault, Duseong S. Jo, Brian C. McDonald, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Douglas A. Day, Weiwei Hu, Jason C. Schroder, James Allan, Donald R. Blake, Manjula R. Canagaratna, Hugh Coe, Matthew M. Coggon, Peter F. DeCarlo, Glenn S. Diskin, Rachel Dunmore, Frank Flocke, Alan Fried, Jessica B. Gilman, Georgios Gkatzelis, Jacqui F. Hamilton, Thomas F. Hanisco, Patrick L. Hayes, Daven K. Henze, Alma Hodzic, James Hopkins, Min Hu, L. Greggory Huey, B. Thomas Jobson, William C. Kuster, Alastair Lewis, Meng Li, Jin Liao, M. Omar Nawaz, Ilana B. Pollack, Jeffrey Peischl, Bernhard Rappenglück, Claire E. Reeves, Dirk Richter, James M. Roberts, Thomas B. Ryerson, Min Shao, Jacob M. Sommers, James Walega, Carsten Warneke, Petter Weibring, Glenn M. Wolfe, Dominique E. Young, Bin Yuan, Qiang Zhang, Joost A. de Gouw, and Jose L. Jimenez
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11201–11224, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11201-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11201-2021, 2021
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Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is an important aspect of poor air quality for urban regions around the world, where a large fraction of the population lives. However, there is still large uncertainty in predicting SOA in urban regions. Here, we used data from 11 urban campaigns and show that the variability in SOA production in these regions is predictable and is explained by key emissions. These results are used to estimate the premature mortality associated with SOA in urban regions.
Young-Chul Song, Joseph Lilek, Jae Bong Lee, Man Nin Chan, Zhijun Wu, Andreas Zuend, and Mijung Song
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10215–10228, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10215-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10215-2021, 2021
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We report viscosity of binary mixtures of organic material / H2O and inorganic salts / H2O, as well as ternary mixtures of organic material / inorganic salts/ H2O, over the atmospheric relative humidity (RH) range. The viscosity measurements indicate that the studied mixed organic–inorganic particles range in phase state from liquid to semi-solid or even solid across the atmospheric RH range at a temperature of 293 K.
Gang Zhao, Yishu Zhu, Zhijun Wu, Taomou Zong, Jingchuan Chen, Tianyi Tan, Haichao Wang, Xin Fang, Keding Lu, Chunsheng Zhao, and Min Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9995–10004, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9995-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9995-2021, 2021
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New particle formation is thought to contribute half of the global cloud condensation nuclei. We find that the new particle formation is more likely to happen in the upper boundary layer than that at the ground, which can be partially explained by the aerosol–radiation interaction. Our study emphasizes the influence of aerosol–radiation interaction on the NPF.
Tianyi Tan, Min Hu, Zhuofei Du, Gang Zhao, Dongjie Shang, Jing Zheng, Yanhong Qin, Mengren Li, Yusheng Wu, Limin Zeng, Song Guo, and Zhijun Wu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 8499–8510, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8499-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8499-2021, 2021
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Every year in the pre-monsoon season, the black carbon (BC) aerosols originated from biomass burning in southern Asia are easily transported to the Tibetan Plateau (TP) by the convenience of westerly wind. This study reveals that the BC aerosols in the aged biomass burning plumes strongly enhance the total light absorption over the TP, and the aging process during the long-range transport will further strengthen the radiative heating of those BC aerosols.
Laurent Poulain, Benjamin Fahlbusch, Gerald Spindler, Konrad Müller, Dominik van Pinxteren, Zhijun Wu, Yoshiteru Iinuma, Wolfram Birmili, Alfred Wiedensohler, and Hartmut Herrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3667–3684, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3667-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3667-2021, 2021
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We present results from source apportionment analysis on the carbonaceous aerosol particles, including organic aerosol (OA) and equivalent black carbon (eBC), allowing us to distinguish local emissions from long-range transport for OA and eBC sources. By merging online chemical measurements and considering particle number size distribution, the different air masses reaching the sampling place were described and discussed, based on their respective chemical composition and size distribution.
Jingchuan Chen, Zhijun Wu, Jie Chen, Naama Reicher, Xin Fang, Yinon Rudich, and Min Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3491–3506, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3491-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3491-2021, 2021
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Asian mineral dust is a crucial contributor to global ice-nucleating particles (INPs), while its size-resolved information on freezing activity is extremely rare. Here we conducted the first known INP measurements of size-resolved airborne East Asian dust particles. An explicit size dependence of both INP concentration and surface
ice-active-site density was observed. The new parameterizations can be widely applied in models to better characterize and predict ice nucleation activities of dust.
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Yang, L., Huang, R.-J., Yuan, W., Huang, D. D., and Huang, C.: pH-Dependent Aqueous-Phase Brown Carbon Formation: Rate Constants and Implications for Solar Absorption and Atmospheric Photochemistry, Environmental Science & Technology, 1236–1243, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c07631, 2024.
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Short summary
Brown Carbon (BrC) is considered as one of the least understood atmospheric warming agents. BrC’s photobleaching has been determined as a key reason to the uncertainty in its global radiative effect, which has been poorly constrained. This study revelas the source-dependent BrC photobleaching rates, and explained this difference from molecular perspective. Consequently, the OH oxidation reactivity of molecular composition of different types of BrC determines their distinct photobleaching rates.
Brown Carbon (BrC) is considered as one of the least understood atmospheric warming agents....
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