Composition Determination of Multicomponent Organic Aerosols by On-Line FT-IR Spectroscopy

Abstract

A new approach is reported for determining the composition of multicomponent organic aerosols using FT-IR spectroscopy. In this study, laboratory-generated aerosol particles are thermally evaporated and the resulting vapor is immediately analyzed using FT-IR spectroscopy. The composition of the aerosol is determined by fitting the vapor spectrum to a linear combination of reference spectra of the individual components. Application of the method to the detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, changes in aerosol composition, and analysis of diesel fuel is demonstrated.