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Insights into Volatile Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere: Component Characteristics,...
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Insights into Volatile Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere: Component Characteristics, Source Apportionment and Environmental Implications

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Aerosols".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 7511

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Li Zhou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Interests: field observations; chamber study; volatile organic compounds; tropospheric ozone; radicals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are primary precursors of both photochemical ozone (O3) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) play important roles in formation of ground-level air pollution. Meanwhile, exposures to these organic pollutants also have direct risk for human health, which may cause respiratory symptoms and diseases, even cancer may be induced by known toxic species. Due to the emissions of VOCs which are responsible for secondary pollution formation and a hazard to human health, more and more attentions have been gained on them and many studies on the component characteristics, emission sources, health risks and emission control throughout different regions of the world.

In view of above, the Journal Atmosphere dedicates this special issue to showcase the most recent findings on the VOC studies. This SI is open for submissions of original research studies, review, and perspective articles. Laboratory investigation, fields observation, and modelling studies are all highly welcome. The topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

  • VOC sampling techniques
  • VOC emission inventories
  • VOC component characteristics and sources
  • VOC removal kinetics and mechanism
  • Secondary pollution formation potentials
  • Air quality management & policy

Dr. Li Zhou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • air pollution
  • emission inventories
  • measurement technique
  • volatile organic compounds tropospheric ozone
  • secondary organic aerosols
  • air quality management & policy

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 12265 KiB  
Article
Comparative Analysis of Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation during PM2.5 Pollution and Complex Pollution of PM2.5 and O3 in Chengdu, China
by Tianli Song, Miao Feng, Danlin Song, Song Liu, Qinwen Tan, Yuancheng Wang, Yina Luo, Xi Chen and Fumo Yang
Atmosphere 2022, 13(11), 1834; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13111834 - 4 Nov 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1688
Abstract
Nowadays, many cities in China are suffering from both fine particulate matter (PM2.5, particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.5 µm) and ozone (O3) pollution. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is an important component of PM2.5 and [...] Read more.
Nowadays, many cities in China are suffering from both fine particulate matter (PM2.5, particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.5 µm) and ozone (O3) pollution. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is an important component of PM2.5 and is closely related to the oxidation processes. To investigate the characteristics and formation pathways of SOA during different types of haze pollution episodes, carbonaceous components of PM2.5 and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were monitored continuously in Chengdu in April 2019, when Chengdu experienced not only PM2.5 pollution (SPP) but also a complex pollution of PM2.5 and O3 (CoP). In the CoP episode, the concentrations of SOA increased by 51.2% as compared to SPP, and the SOA concentrations were positively correlated with PM2.5 mass concentrations. These suggest that SOA drove the increase in PM2.5 levels during the haze event to some extent. The preliminary VOC source analysis based on the feature ratio showed that vehicle emission and fuel volatilization sources were the main sources of VOCs at this urban site. In addition, coal emissions and biomass burning were also important contributors. High-carbon alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons significantly contributed to the SOA formation. These results provide a preliminary understanding of SOA formation during different types of pollution episodes in Chengdu, which can help us to further understand air pollution in this typical region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insights into Volatile Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere: Component Characteristics, Source Apportionment and Environmental Implications)
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17 pages, 42572 KiB  
Article
How Photochemically Consumed Volatile Organic Compounds Affect Ozone Formation: A Case Study in Chengdu, China
by Hefan Liu, Ning Wang, Dongyang Chen, Qinwen Tan, Danlin Song and Fengxia Huang
Atmosphere 2022, 13(10), 1534; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13101534 - 20 Sep 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1897
Abstract
Surface ozone (O3) pollution has not improved significantly in recent years. It is still the primary air pollution problem in many megacities in China during summertime. In high temperature and intense radiation weather, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are easily oxidized and [...] Read more.
Surface ozone (O3) pollution has not improved significantly in recent years. It is still the primary air pollution problem in many megacities in China during summertime. In high temperature and intense radiation weather, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are easily oxidized and degraded to induce O3 pollution. In order to understand the impact of difference between photochemical initial concentration (PIC) of VOCs and the actual measured concentration on O3 formation, a campaign was carried out during O3 pollution in Chengdu (25 July–5 August 2021). During this O3 pollution episode, the maximum value of O3 concentration reached 335.0 μg/m3, and the precursor concentrations increased significantly. The mean values of VOCmeasured and VOCPICs were 19.7 ppbv and 30.7 ppbv, corresponding to O3 formation potential (OFP) of 175.3 μg/m3 and 478.8 μg/m3, respectively, indicating that the consumption of VOCs content could not be ignored. Alkenes accounted for 77.2% of VOCs consumption. Alkenes and aromatics contributed 63.0% and 29.2% to OFP values which derived from PIC of each VOC species. The relative incremental reactivity analysis based on PICs showed that the O3 formation was controlled by the cooperation of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and VOCs, and the effect of NOx emission reduction was better. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insights into Volatile Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere: Component Characteristics, Source Apportionment and Environmental Implications)
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11 pages, 2239 KiB  
Article
Volatile Organic Compound Sampling through Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technique for Environmental Monitoring
by Yong Chen, Xiaoxu Zhang, Xiaofeng Wu, Jia Li, Yang Qiu, Hao Wang, Zhang Cheng, Chengbin Zheng and Fumo Yang
Atmosphere 2022, 13(9), 1442; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13091442 - 6 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1905
Abstract
To improve the capacity to probe volatile chemical substances in the atmosphere, we designed an unmanned aerial vehicle system for volatile organic compound (VOC) monitoring and sampling. This environmental monitoring unmanned aerial vehicle (EMUAV) platform was equipped with a photoionization detector for continuous [...] Read more.
To improve the capacity to probe volatile chemical substances in the atmosphere, we designed an unmanned aerial vehicle system for volatile organic compound (VOC) monitoring and sampling. This environmental monitoring unmanned aerial vehicle (EMUAV) platform was equipped with a photoionization detector for continuous VOC monitoring and searching in a pollution air mass. Furthermore, a multifunction airborne microVOC sampler was loaded for sampling. An airbag and absorption tube were applied to collect air samples for further analyzing in the laboratory by GC-FID/MS or TD-GC/MS. By comparing the aerial samples derived from the microVOC sampler with the samples collected at a similar height to a building roof for chemical compositions, the sampling conditions, such as the sampling port location and sampling method, were optimized to ensure the representativeness of the air samples. The results of the sample comparison experiment showed that both the airbag method and the adsorption method could recover 70–130% for most VOC species. Through the aerial measurements, the advantages of this EMUAV system were demonstrated. Therefore, the developed EMUAV system would have immeasurable potential in the field of environment monitoring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insights into Volatile Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere: Component Characteristics, Source Apportionment and Environmental Implications)
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19 pages, 8685 KiB  
Article
Seasonal Variation Characteristics of VOCs and Their Influences on Secondary Pollutants in Yibin, Southwest China
by Lan Kong, Tianzhi Luo, Xia Jiang, Shuhua Zhou, Gang Huang, Dongyang Chen, Yuting Lan and Fumo Yang
Atmosphere 2022, 13(9), 1389; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13091389 - 30 Aug 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1650
Abstract
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have a crucial impact on the formation of ozone and secondary organic aerosols in the near-surface atmosphere. Understanding the composition characteristics and sources of VOCs is necessary for determining effective control policies to mitigate VOCs and related secondary pollutions. [...] Read more.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have a crucial impact on the formation of ozone and secondary organic aerosols in the near-surface atmosphere. Understanding the composition characteristics and sources of VOCs is necessary for determining effective control policies to mitigate VOCs and related secondary pollutions. We performed on-line measurements of VOC species in typical months of each season in Yibin, a fast-growing city in Sichuan Basin in China, to identify VOC seasonal characteristics, sources, and the potential for secondary pollution formation. The average mixing ratio of VOCs in Yibin was 22.3 ppbv. Five major emission sources were identified through the positive matrix factorization model, namely, gasoline vehicle, diesel vehicle, industrial manufacturing, solvent utilization, regional background, and secondary formation. Aromatics and alkenes played leading roles in the secondary formation of ozone and secondary organic aerosols. Furthermore, m/p-xylene, ethylene, and toluene were identified to be the major reactive species. Future management should consider targeting these compounds when evaluating ozone and aerosol reduction strategies. Vehicle and solvent utilization emission mitigation would be the primary and effective ways to improve air quality in the fast-developing city in this region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insights into Volatile Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere: Component Characteristics, Source Apportionment and Environmental Implications)
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