Insights into high concentrations of particle-bound imidazoles in the background atmosphere of southern China: Potential sources and influencing factors

Abstract

Imidazoles are important constituents in atmospheric brown carbon and have gained increasing attention in the past decade. Although imidazoles have been studied widely in laboratories, the sparse field observations severely limit the understanding of imidazole's abundance and sources in the atmosphere. In this study, we measured particle-bound imidazoles and their precursors at a background forest site in the Nanling Mountains of southern China. The average concentration of imidazoles (4.17 ± 3.76 ng/m3) was found to be significantly higher than other background sites worldwide. Further analyses revealed that a majority of imidazoles (59.1%) at the site originated from secondary formation through reactions of dicarbonyls (e.g., glyoxal and methylglyoxal) and reduced nitrogen species, with relatively minor contributions from regional transport (32.8%) and biomass burning (8.1%). In addition, the key factors influencing secondary formation of imidazoles, such as relative humidity, water-soluble inorganic ions, and pH, were analyzed. Our results indicated that the secondary formation of imidazoles can be greatly enhanced under high humidity conditions, particularly during fog events. Overall, this study offers valuable insights into potential sources and influencing factors of ambient imidazoles in background atmospheres.