Chemical and light absorption properties of humic-like substances from biomass burning emissions under controlled combustion experiments

Abstract

PM2.5 samples from biomass burning (BB) emissions of three types - rice straw (RS), pine needles (PN), and sesame stems (SS) - were collected through laboratory-controlled combustion experiments and analyzed for the mass, organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), humic-like substances (HULIS), and water soluble inorganic species (Na+, NH4+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, and oxalate). The combustion experiments were carried out at smoldering conditions. Water-soluble HULIS in BB samples was isolated using a one-step solid phase extraction method, followed by quantification with a total organic carbon analyzer. This study aims to explore chemical and light absorption characteristics of HULIS from BB emissions. The contributions of HULIS (=1.94 × HULIS-C) to PM2.5 emissions were observed to be 29.5 ± 2.0, 15.3 ± 3.1, and 25.8 ± 4.0%, respectively, for RS, PN, and SS smoke samples. Contributions of HULIS-C to OC and WSOC for the RS, PN, and SS burning emissions were 0.26 ± 0.03 and 0.63 ± 0.05, 0.15 ± 0.04 and 0.36 ± 0.08, and 0.29 ± 0.08 and 0.51 ± 0.08, respectively. Light absorption by the water extracts from BB aerosols exhibited strong wavelength dependence, which is characteristic of brown carbon spectra with a sharply increasing absorption as wavelength decreases. The average absorption Ångström exponents (AAE) of the water extracts (WSOC) fitted between wavelengths of 300–400 nm were 8.3 (7.4–9.0), 7.4 (6.2–8.5), and 8.0 (7.1–9.3) for the RS, PN, and SS burning samples, which are comparable to the AAE values of BB samples reported in previous publications (e.g., field and laboratory chamber studies). The average mass absorption efficiencies of WSOC measured at 365 nm (MAE365) were 1.37 ± 0.23, 0.86 ± 0.09, and 1.38 ± 0.21 m2/g⋅C for RS, PN, and SS burning aerosols, respectively. Correlations of total WSOC, hydrophilic WSOC (= total WSOC–HULIS-C), and HULIS-C concentrations in solution with the light absorption of WSOC at 365 nm indicate that the light absorption of WSOC from BB emissions was strongly associated with HULIS (R2 = 0.92) - i.e., a hydrophobic component of WSOC, rather than with the hydrophilic WSOC (R2 = 0.31).