^{Shang Dongjie， Chang Haoning， Feng Zeyu， Hu Min}

State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability， College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering，Peking University， Beijing 100871， China

Abstract

Significance With the continuous development and widespread application of particulate matter number concentration measurement technologies in China， new particle formation has been widely observed in various ambient environments across the country， exhibiting characteristics that significantly differ from those typically reported in atmospheric observations abroad. With the development and application of measurement technologies for key gaseous precursors， such as gaseous sulfuric acid， organic amines， and highly oxidized organic compounds， Chinese scholars have played a pivotal role in elucidating the chemical mechanisms underlying the nucleation and growth of atmospheric new particles. In recent years， Chinese researchers have further integrated observational data with mechanistic studies， establishing a systematic understanding of the multidimensional spatial characteristics and environmental effects of new particle formation. This paper reviews the research history and key milestone achievements of atmospheric new particle formation in China through three stages.

Progress This paper systematically reviews the significant discoveries in China in the field of atmospheric new particle formation since its initial observation in 2004. These discoveries include the unexpectedly efficient nucleation process and the mechanism of haze formation induced by new particles under polluted atmospheric conditions； the dominant role of the gaseous sulfuric acid-dimethylamine nucleation mechanism in urban atmospheres， as well as the potential synergistic effects of other substances such as organic acids， trimethylamine， and iodate； the predominant role of oxidized organic matter in new particle growth， and the important limitation imposed by nitrogen oxide concentrations on the condensation growth capacity of new particles.

Conclusions and Prospects 1） Current observations of microscopic mechanisms primarily rely on short-term field experiments， severely lacking a continuous particulate matter size spectrum observation network covering multiple climatic zones. In particular， long-term high-resolution mass spectrometric measurement data for short-lived， highly reactive gaseous precursors remain scarce， leading to uncertainties in assessing the aerosol climate effects under carbon neutrality pathways. In the future， efforts should be made to strengthen the construction of a networked continuous observation system for ultrafine particles and precursor mass spectrometry， forming a dynamic underlying database with long-term observational sequences. 2） The current mainstream atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry technique is limited by instrument resolution and ion fragmentation mechanisms， making it difficult to precisely separate and accurately quantify isomers. This often leads to systematic biases when data are input into thermodynamic models to calculate condensation partition ratios. In the future， efforts should be made to promote the research and development of cutting-edge detection technologies such as high-resolution ion mobility mass spectrometry， as well as their field adaptation and applications. 3） Currently， field verification and computational deduction of nucleation mechanisms are mostly limited to static binary or ternary systems. Future research should deeply integrate high-order quantitative computational resources and machine learning architectures， unifying and incorporating the nonlinear physical feedback and chemical synergistic coupling effects of known multi-source precursors involved in cluster formation into highly applicable core equations for nucleation parameterization. The accuracy and universality of this approach in global fluid and climate model simulations should be continuously validated across different types of environmental matrices.

Keywords： atmospheric aerosol； new particle formation； nucleation mechanism； climate change

Get Citation:Shang Dongjie， Chang Haoning， Feng Zeyu， et al. Research progress on atmospheric new particle formation in China［J］. China Powder Science and Technology， 2027， 33（2）： 1-10.

Received：2026-09-14， Revised： 2026-09-15，Online： 2026-09-27。

Funding： The research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFC3701001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 22221004), and the Special Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability (Grant No. 24Y04ESPCP).

DOI：10.13732/j.issn.1008-5548.2027.02.001

CLC No.:  X513；P402；X131.1；TB44

Type Code:  A

Serial No.:  1008-5548（2027）02-0001-10