Review on the Molecular Characterization of Atmospheric Organic Aerosols Using High-Resolution Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry: Techniques, Applications, and Perspectives
摘要
Investigation on the chemical characteristics, formation and transformation pathways, and origins of organic aerosols is of great importance to understand their impacts on climate and environment in the atmospheric research field. Ambient soft-ionization methods coupled with high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry (MS) techniques are capable to provide extensive information on the compositional and structural characteristics of organic aerosols based on accurate mass determination. The Orbitrap MS has high accuracy to separate adjacent peaks, large dynamic range of analyte concentration levels, wide mass-to-charge ratio range, and better tandem MS analysis performance to fulfill different research purposes. In this review, the development of Orbitrap MS is briefly introduced for a better understanding on its core working principles. The current research progresses on the molecular characterization of organic aerosols using Orbitrap MS are presented through a detailed literature survey on previous laboratory and field works. Organic aerosol studies using offline direct-infusion approach, gas and liquid chromatography coupled with Orbitrap MS, and real-time measurements are thoroughly examined and discussed. Finally, the remaining challenges and future directions in the characterization of atmospheric organic aerosol chemistry using Orbitrap MS are proposed.