Contribution of Selected Dicarboxylic and ω-Oxocarboxylic Acids in Ambient Aerosol to them/z44 Signal of an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer

Abstract

The Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) employs flash vaporization (600°C) followed by 70-eV electron impact ionization (EI) to detect organic and inorganic aerosols. The signal at mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) 44 (mainly CO 2 + ) is considered the most reliable marker of oxygenated organic aerosol. This study is the first to evaluate the contribution of selected low molecular weight dicarboxylic acids (diacids) and ω-oxocarboxylic acids (ω-oxoacids) to the particle-phase m/z 44 signal of the AMS mass spectrum. Ambient measurements were conducted at a surface site in Tokyo (35°39 ′ N, 139°40 ′ E) during August 3–8, 2003. Diacids and ω-oxoacids were measured using a filter sampling followed by extraction, derivation, and gas chromatograph-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) analysis. The mass concentrations of diacids and ω-oxoacids show tight correlation with the m/z 44 signal (r 2 = 0.85–0.94) during the measurement period. Laboratory experiments were also performed to determine the fragment patterns of...