Atmospheric aerosol arises from direct emissions and secondary formation and undergoes continuous physical and chemical transformation. We combine field observations and laboratory experiments to investigate its chemical composition, sources, and evolution in urban, rural, and high-altitude environments. We use online aerosol and gas-phase mass spectrometry, together with source apportionment, to identify and quantify contributions from solid-fuel combustion, including coal and biomass burning, traffic emissions, and secondary aerosol formation.
At the molecular level, we use ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry, including HPLC-PDA-Orbitrap MS and GC-Orbitrap MS, to characterize organic aerosol constituents, source markers, brown carbon chromophores, and atmospheric transformation products. By integrating molecular and optical measurements, we advance our understanding of organic aerosol composition and atmospheric evolution at the molecular level and elucidate how the structures of brown carbon chromophores influence aerosol light absorption and photochemical reactivity. We further investigate the role of these chromophores as photosensitizers in atmospheric multiphase chemistry.
Representative publications
1. Huang, R. J., Zhang, Y. L., Bozzetti, C., Ho, K. F., Cao, J. J., Han, Y. M., Dällenbach, K. R., Slowik, J. G., Platt, S. M., Canonaco, F., Zotter, P., Wolf, R., Pieber, S. M., Bruns, E. A., Crippa, M., Ciarelli, G., Piazzalunga, A., Schwikowski, M., Abbaszade, G., Schnelle-Kreis, J., Zimmermann, R., An, Z. S., Szidat, S., Baltensperger, U., EI Haddad, I., Prévôt, A. S. H.: High secondary aerosol contribution to particulate pollution during haze events in China, Nature, 514, 218-222, 2014. (citations˃4,800)
2. Lin, C. S., Huang, R. J.*, Ceburnis, D., Buckley, P., Preissler, J., Wenger, J., Rinaldi, M., Facchini, M. C., O’Dowd, C.*, Ovadnevaite, J.: Extreme air pollution from residential solid fuel burning, Nature Sustainability, 1, 512-517, DOI:10.1038/s41893-018-0125-x, 2018.
3. Huang, R. J.*, Yang, L., Cao, J., Chen, Y., Chen, Q., Li, Y. J., Duan, J., Zhu, C., Dai, W., Wang, K., Lin, C., Ni, H., Corbin, J. C., Wu, Y., Zhang, R., Tie, X., Hoffmann, T., O’Dowd, C., Dusek, U.: Brown Carbon Aerosol in Urban Xi’an, Northwest China: The Composition and Light Absorption Properties, Environ. Sci. Technol., 52, 6825-6833, 2018.
4. Duan, J., Huang, R. J.*, Lin, C. S., Qu, J., Liu, J. H., Huang, W., Zhan, Y. N., Yuan, W., Wang, T., Zhou, L. Y., Xu, W., Liu, Q., Liu, Z. R., Lou, S. R., Yang, H. N., Huang, D. D., Huang, C., Wang, H. L.: Relative humidity modulates photochemical aging of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols: Insights from ambient oxidation flow reactor, Environ. Sci. Technol., 59, 24481-24491, 2025.
5. Liu, Y., Huang, R. J.*, Lin, C. S., Yuan, W., Li, Y. J., Zhong, H. B., Yang, L., Wang, T., Huang, W., Xu, W., Huang, D. D., Huang, C.: Nitrate-photolysis shortens the lifetimes of brown carbon tracers from biomass burning, Environmental Science & Technology, 59, 640–649, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c06123, 2025.
