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Title: Formation of Refractory Black Carbon by SP2-Induced Charring of Organic Aerosol

Journal Article · · Aerosol Science and Technology
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [4]
  1. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Environmental and Climate Sciences Dept.
  2. Aerodyne Research Inc., Billerica MA (United States); Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
  3. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
  4. Aerodyne Research Inc., Billerica MA (United States)
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Black carbon (BC) in the atmosphere continues to be a focus of research because its lightabsorptive properties put it second only to CO2 as a warming agent of Earth's climate. Towards this end, the measurement of ambient BC has been aided greatly by the development of the Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) – an instrument that detects refractory black carbon (rBC) through laser-induced incandescence (Schwarz et al., 2006). Potential interference from other substances that can incandesce under 1064 nm illumination (e.g., some metals and minerals) is mitigated through the use of spectral bandpass filters (color temperature) to ensure that the SP2 remains highly selective to rBC. Here in this paper, we report on the detection of rBC that is produced through SP2 laser-induced charring (i.e., carbonization) of organic aerosols. Nigrosin – a non-BC-containing material – was used as a surrogate for light absorbing organic aerosols. The color temperature of the detected particles originating from charred nigrosin is near that of carbon black, fullerene soot, and ethylene soot, indicating that it is rBC. In conclusion, failure to properly account for this heretofore unidentified source of rBC will lead to an overestimate of rBC loadings, which could, in turn, impact aerosol radiative forcing model predictions.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704
OSTI ID:
1457343
Report Number(s):
BNL-205802-2018-JAAM
Journal Information:
Aerosol Science and Technology, Vol. 52, Issue 12; ISSN 0278-6826
Publisher:
American Association for Aerosol ResearchCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 12 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Detection of tar brown carbon with a single particle soot photometer (SP2) journal January 2019
Structural changes of CAST soot during a thermal–optical measurement protocol journal January 2019
Absorption closure in highly aged biomass burning smoke journal January 2020

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