Single particle analysis of secondary organic aerosols formed from 1,4-cyclohexadiene ozonolysis using a laser-ionization single-particle aerosol mass spectrometer

Real-time analysis of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles formed from 1,4-cyclohexadiene (CHD) ozonolysis in a smog chamber was performed using a laser-ionization single-particle aerosol mass spectrometer (LISPA-MS). The instrument can be used to obtain both the size and chemical compositions of individual aerosol particles with a high time-resolution (approximate to 2 s at the maximum). Both positive- and negative-ion mass spectra can be obtained by changing the voltage polarity of the instrument. The negative-ion spectra of the SOA particles provided important information about the chemical compositions of the SOA particles. In the negative-ion spectra, intense mass peaks were determined to correspond to ions with carboxyl and aldehyde groups. The signal intensities of the intense mass peaks from compounds with carboxyl groups were higher than those from compounds with aldehyde groups as a function of the particle size. The peaks suggest that the SOA particles contain more oxygenated organic compounds as the particle size increases, namely, the chemical compositions of the SOA particles vary as a function of the particle size. We demonstrated that the real-time single-particle analysis of SOA particles by using the LISPA-MS technique can be used to clarify the formation and transformation processes of SOA particles in smog chambers.