Chemical characterization of nanometer-sized elemental carbon particles emitted from diesel vehicles

In order to obtain the exact chemical structure and further discuss the global warming effect of elemental carbon (EC) particles, the morphology and the chemical structure of EC particles emitted from diesel vehicles were first investigated in detail using scan electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDX), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), Fourier Transformation Infrared (FT-IR) spectrum and 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrum in this study. The SEM-EDX results showed that EC particles emitted from diesel bus are 50 nm spherical particles with smooth surface and an O/C ratio (mass ratio) of 0.07±0.01. The 50 nm EC particles were further deduced to be an aggregate of new fullerene C36(OH)2 according to the results of MALDI-TOF-MS, FT-IR and 13C NMR. Fullerenes smaller than 60C were considered to be unstable since they cannot fulfill the so-called isolated pentagon rule. So far, most of our knowledge regarding small fullerenes comes from gas-phase experiments and theoretical investigations, the production and separation of small fullerene solids in the macroscopic quantity has been reported. The present report is the first discovery of C36(OH)2-based solid.

► Morphology and chemical structure of nanometer-sized EC particles were studied. ► Nanometer-sized EC particle emitted from diesel bus was found to be 50 nm ball. ► Structure of the 50 nm EC particle was studied by MALDI-TOF-MS, FT-IR and 13C NMR. ► The 50 nm EC particle was further deduced to be an aggregate of new fullerene C36(OH)2. ► Present report is the first discovery of C36(OH)2-based solid.