Kiu Dantong1， Wu Yunfei2， Zhang Yuxin1， Liang Yuting1， Hu Kang3， Ding Shuo4， Li Siyuan5， Jiang Xiaotong6， Zhang Renjian2
1.School of Earth Sciences， Zhejiang University， Hangzhou 310027， China； 2.Institute of Atmospheric Physics， Chinese Academy of Sciences， Beijing 100029， China； 3.School of Environmental Science and Engineering， Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology， Nanjing 210044， China； 4.Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Research on Industrial Carbon Metrology Technology， College of Energy Environment and Safety Engineering， China Jiliang University， Hangzhou 310018， China； 5.State Key Laboratory of Spatial Datum， College of Low⁃Altitude Technology and Aerospace Information， Henan University， Zhengzhou 450046， China； 6.Shandong Key Laboratory of Eco⁃Environmental Science for the Yellow River Delta， Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the Yellow River Delta， Shandong University of Aeronautics， Binzhou 256600， China
Abstract
Significance This review aims to synthesize recent advances in understanding the atmospheric life cycle and climate-relevant properties of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols （LACs）， with an emphasis on observations in China， source studies， laboratory experiments， and model development. LACs mainly include black carbon （BC）， a refractory and strongly light-absorbing component produced by incomplete combustion， and brown carbon （BrC）， a group of organic compounds that preferentially absorb in the near-ultraviolet and short-visible spectral ranges. Instead of treating BC and BrC as isolated aerosol components， this review organizes current knowledge within a life cycle framework that integrates emissions， regional and vertical transport， physicochemical aging， cloud and precipitation interactions， atmospheric removal， snow and ice deposition， and radiative effects. The review evaluates how measurable parameters， including mass absorption cross-section， absorption Ångström exponent， BC core size， coating thickness， coating volume ratio， particle morphology， hygroscopicity， cloud condensation nuclei activation， ice nucleation potential， scavenging efficiency， and absorption aerosol optical depth， can be used to connect field observations with regional and climate models.
ProgressThe reviewed studies show that LAC emissions in China are controlled by multiple source categories， including residential solid–fuel combustion， biomass burning， traffic， industry， and shipping. These sources differ not only in mass emission strength but also in BC maturity， char/soot partitioning， particle size， organic coating， BrC chromophore abundance， and potential for secondary formation. Recent source-testing and field studies in China indicate that char and soot should not be assigned identical optical properties in emission inventories and radiative assessments because their chemical maturity and absorption capacity can differ substantially. Coastal observations further show that ship emissions are becoming an important contributor to BC in nearshore regions and may respond rapidly to emission control policies. For BrC， combustion sources， aqueous reactions， nitrogen-containing chemistry， and secondary organic aerosol formation collectively determine its spectral absorption， volatility， polarity， and aging rate. Regional comparisons suggest that North China is characterized by strong wintertime residential combustion， haze chemistry， and coating growth. The Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta are influenced by mixed traffic， industrial， and regional transport sources. The Tibetan Plateau and surrounding high-elevation regions are highly sensitive to long-range transport and cryospheric deposition. Coastal areas are jointly affected by land–sea circulation， port activities， and marine or continental air masses. Transport studies demonstrate that LAC redistribution is not limited to horizontal transport. Boundary-layer development， convective mixing， mountain–valley circulation， frontal lifting， monsoon transport， and biomass-burning plume injection can modify the vertical distribution， dilution， aging state， and removal probability of LAC particles. BC located near the top of the planetary boundary layer or above bright clouds and snow surfaces can produce higher heating efficiency than near-surface BC， while transported BrC may experience competing losses and production through volatilization， photobleaching， nitration， and secondary formation. Aging studies show that freshly emitted BC is commonly hydrophobic and fractal， but it can acquire sulfate， nitrate， ammonium， and organic coatings within hours under polluted and humid conditions. Coating growth， evaporation， coagulation， heterogeneous oxidation， liquid-phase processing， and morphology restructuring alter BC absorption enhancement， hygroscopicity， cloud activation， and wet removal efficiency. However， idealized core–shell assumptions may overestimate absorption if particle-scale diversity and morphology are ignored. For BrC， aging is even more source- and pathway-dependent. Photochemical processing can bleach primary chromophores， whereas aqueous-phase and nitrogen-containing reactions can generate secondary light-absorbing compounds. Observational evidence from Chinese cities indicates that BrC absorption can increase or decrease during aging， depending on oxidation state， polarity， molecular composition， and atmospheric humidity. Removal processes represent a major source of uncertainty in LAC lifetime and climate forcing. BC and BrC can be removed through in-cloud activation， collision with cloud droplets or ice particles， below-cloud scavenging by rain and snow， dry deposition to surfaces， and deposition onto snow and ice. BC cloud activation is governed by coating amount， particle size， and coating hygroscopicity， while recent single-particle observations show that a considerable fraction of BC in clouds may be captured through nonactivation pathways rather than conventional cloud condensation nuclei activation alone. Mixed-phase clouds add further complexity because the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process can release BC from evaporating droplets， thereby reducing wet removal efficiency， whereas riming and precipitation formation can enhance removal. For BrC， physical removal and chemical transformation in cloud water should be distinguished， because cloud processing can both eliminate light-absorbing compounds and create new chromophores. After deposition， LACs in snow and ice can reduce surface albedo and accelerate radiative feedbacks， particularly on the Tibetan Plateau and in northern snow-covered and glacierized areas.
Conclusions and Prospects This review synthesizes Chinese research on the emission profiles， regional and vertical transport， physicochemical evolution， and atmospheric removal of LACs. Although BC and BrC are both light-absorbing carbonaceous components， their climate-relevant properties are governed by different processes： BC absorption， cloud activation， and removal are primarily controlled by core size， mixing state， coating growth， and morphological restructuring， whereas BrC is more dependent on source， molecular composition， and reaction pathway and may either darken or bleach through competing nitrogen-containing， aqueous-phase， and photochemical processes. Regional contrasts across China further show that emissions， boundary-layer dynamics， transport， cloud and precipitation processing， and cryospheric deposition jointly determine LAC lifetime and radiative effects. Future studies should move from bulk mass constraints toward process closure across the full life cycle by developing source profiles that resolve fuel type， combustion stage， BC maturity， and BrC chromophores； coordinating ground， mountain， aircraft， coastal， cloud， precipitation， and cryosphere observations； and dynamically representing BC mixing-state evolution and BrC optical changes in models. Improved parameterizations of activation scavenging， nonactivation capture， below-cloud scavenging， mixed-phase-cloud release， and post-depositional snow and ice processing are essential for more reliable and regionally comparable assessments of LAC climate effects.
Keywords： light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosol； black carbon； brown carbon； climate effect assessment
Get Citation: Liu Dantong， Wu Yunfei， Zhang Yuxin， et al. Atmospheric light⁃absorbing carbonaceous aerosols［J］. China Powder Science and Technology， 2027， 33（2）： 66-79.
Received: 2026-07-25， Revised： 2026-09-05， Online： 2026-10-08。
Funding： This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2023YFC3705102).
DOI：10.13732/j.issn.1008-5548.2027.02.006
CLC No.: TB4；TQ324.8
Type Code: A
Serial No.: 1008-5548（2027）02-0066-14
