Thermal Separation of Soot Carbon

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Abstract
We present here a simple and versatile variant of the thermal analysis of soot carbon, and a discussion on the encountered analytical artifacts. The method is based on a two-step combustion procedure; the removal of the organic material that does not absorb visible light is optimized during a precombustion step at 340°C during 2 hours under a pure oxygen flow, and the remaining carbon is then determined by coulometric titration of the CO2 evolved from the combustion of the samples. These analytical conditions minimize the crossover between the different components of the aerosol, but better to a clear-cut division between organics and soot carbon, the quantitative evaluation of their thermal evolution is obtained. Artifacts have been tested thoroughly with various standards and replicates of ambient air samples collected. The method gives reliable soot carbon determination at the microgram level in samples from a wide variety of environments. Combined H / C atomic ratio measurements and investigations of the problems associated with the thermal determination of soot carbon permit gaining some insight on the nature of carbonaceous aerosols. They reinforce the indication that soot carbon is not composed primarily of elemental carbon. Also, it is suggested that highly polymerized natural organic aerosols though different in nature could behave thermally and optically like soot.