Stable hydrogen isotope composition of n-alkanes in urban atmospheric aerosols in Taiyuan, China

•The δD extents of n-alkanes in the heating and non-heating periods were same.•There is consistency in δD spatial feature of n-alkanes during the heating period.•The δD spatial feature of n-alkanes in the non-heating period was various.•The δD temporal variation of n-alkanes from each functional zone was diverse.

The hydrogen isotope compositions (δD) of n-alkanes associated with particulate matter with a diameter of ≤10 μm from Taiyuan, China, during heating and non-heating periods were measured via gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry to reveal the spatial and temporal characteristics of five functional zones and to provide another constraint on atmospheric pollutants. The δD values of n-C16 to n-C31 during the heating and non-heating periods ranged from −235.9‰ to −119.8‰ and from −231.3‰ to −129.2‰, respectively, but these similar spans had different distribution features. During the heating period, the δD distributions between non-central heating and commercial districts were consistent, as were those between residential and industrial districts; the n-alkanes came from two or more types of emission sources. Coal soot might be the primary local emission source, but not the only source. During the non-heating period, the n-alkanes of n-C16 to n-C20 were more depleted in D with the increasing carbon number in all functional zones, but there was no rule for n-C21 to n-C31. Specifically, coal soot and vehicle exhaust might be the primary sources of n-alkanes for non-central heating districts in the heating and non-heating periods, respectively, according to the δD distribution of n-C18 to n-C22; gasoline vehicle exhaust might be an n-alkane source, and the hydrogen isotope fractionation effect during the condensation process should be a pollution mechanism for the commercial district during the heating period; the δD distribution difference of n-C16 to n-C18 between the two periods in the residential and industrial districts was consistent, which indicates a similar source of fossil fuel combustion and a similar isotope fractionation effect during the non-heating period.