Dominant Fraction of EPFRs from Nonsolvent-Extractable Organic Matter in Fine Particulates over Xi’an, China

To understand the nature and possible sources of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) in atmospheric aerosols, the present study used a solvent extraction method to fractionate aerosol components with different polarities and solvent resistance in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from Xi’an, China. The characteristics of EPFRs, that is., their concentration, type and lifetime, were obtained based on their electron paramagnetic resonance spectra. The results showed that the EPFRs in the PM2.5 samples were carbon-centered with a nearby heteroatom (g = 2.0031) and had a long half-life of more than 3 years. Nearly all of the extractable EPFRs were detected in the water-insoluble organic fraction and showed characteristics indicating that may contain oxygen-centered radical (g = 2.0038). Most of the total EPFRs in the PM2.5 were derived from solvent-resistant organic matter (88%), which likely consisted of graphene oxide analogues. The results suggest that previous studies may have missed the major proportion of EPFRs in atmospheric particulates if they only focused on solvent-extractable or metallic oxide-formed EPFRs. Our results showed that the EPFR concentration was significantly and positively correlated with the elemental carbon and NO2 concentrations, suggesting that traffic emissions may be an important source of EPFRs in PM2.5 over Xi’an