[Determination of carbonyls in ambient PM2.5 by coupling dummy template imprinting technology and high performance...

The determination of ambient carbonyls by the derivative method inevitably leads to the introduction of extra 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4-DNPH) into the sample solution. Traditional solid phase extraction (SPE) materials cannot remove this interference. To address this issue, a selective molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE) column was prepared. With 2,4-dinitroaniline (2,4-DNAN) as the dummy template, MISPE could eliminate the excessive derivative agent (2,4-DNPH) in the air samples. Consequently, the sample could be concentrated effectively while the sensitivity increased greatly. By coupling MISPE and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the developed method was used to study the concentration and source of 14 carbonyls of PM2.5 during spring in Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center. Results showed that the total concentration of carbonyls increased with the level of air pollution. Particularly, the content of isovaleraldehyde increased sharply to account for 21% of the 14 total carbonyls in the haze days. Moreover, a high positive correlation between isovaleraldehyde and propionaldehyde was found either in normal days or haze days. From the correlation analysis, it was shown that anthropogenic emissions together with photochemical reaction had contributed to the abnormally high levels of carbonyls in ambient PM2.5 in the haze days. This aspect should be further investigated.