Zang Han¹， Zhou Qiqi²， Zhao Yue¹， Guo Song²

1.School of Environmental Science and Engineering， Shanghai Jiao Tong University， Shanghai 200240， China； 2.State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability， College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering， Peking University， Beijing 100871， China

Abstract

Significance Secondary organic aerosol （SOA）， a major component of atmospheric fine particulate matter （PM_2.5）， has substantial effects on air quality， climate， and public health. It is formed through the atmospheric oxidation of reactive organic carbon， including volatile organic compounds （VOCs）， intermediate-volatility organic compounds （IVOCs）， and semi-volatile organic compounds （SVOCs）， followed by gas–particle partitioning and aqueous-phase， interfacial， and heterogeneous transformations. The diversity of precursors， continuous evolution of product volatility and reactivity， and coupling of multiple chemical processes make SOA formation a persistent challenge for atmospheric observation and modeling. This challenge is particularly prominent in China， where intensive anthropogenic emissions， biogenic precursors， high concentrations of inorganic pollutants， multiple oxidants， and abundant aerosol liquid water coexist. Since 2013， substantial reductions in sulfur dioxide， nitrogen oxides， and primary particulate matter emissions have led to decreases in PM_2.5 and organic aerosol concentrations， whereas the relative contribution of SOA to organic aerosol has increased. Understanding SOA formation is therefore increasingly important for further air quality improvement and the coordinated control of PM_2.5 and ozone.

Progress This review systematically summarizes the formation characteristics of SOA under complex atmospheric pollution conditions in China， as well as research conducted by Chinese scholars on SOA yields， gas-phase oxidation， aqueous-phase and heterogeneous chemistry， parameterization， and regional modeling. SOA yield studies have evolved from measurements of individual VOCs in simplified oxidation systems to investigations of mixed precursors and complex emissions from vehicles， biomass burning， and cooking sources. These studies demonstrate that SOA yields depend strongly on nitrogen oxides， seed aerosol composition， organic aerosol loading， temperature， relative humidity， coexisting oxidants， and radical chemistry. IVOCs and SVOCs have consequently emerged as important previously missing precursors in conventional emission inventories. Gas-phase mechanism research has progressed from product identification to molecular-level characterization of organic peroxy radical （RO₂） chemistry， autoxidation， highly oxygenated organic molecule formation， and the competing effects of functionalization and fragmentation. The nonlinear influence of nitrogen oxides and interactions among RO₂ radicals from different precursors explain why SOA formation in mixed systems may be either enhanced or suppressed relative to linear predictions. Research on aqueous-phase and heterogeneous chemistry has similarly advanced from reactions of small oxygenated compounds on mineral particles or in dilute solutions to reactive uptake， photochemistry， and organic peroxide transformations in atmospherically relevant aerosol particles and microdroplets. Modeling approaches have developed from fixed-yield and two-product schemes to volatility basis set （VBS） and two-dimensional volatility basis set （2D-VBS） frameworks that represent primary organic aerosol evaporation， IVOC oxidation， multigenerational aging， volatility evolution， and aerosol oxidation state. China-specific emission inventories and improved reactive uptake schemes have enhanced model performance， but substantial model-observation discrepancies remain because environmental dependencies， multiphase kinetics， and several key reaction pathways are still inadequately constrained.

Conclusions and Prospects Looking forward， this review proposes that future efforts should prioritize broadening the range of precursor species， advancing the understanding of synergistic mechanisms in multi-precursor and multi-oxidant systems， improving the understanding of coupled gas-phase， aqueous-phase， and heterogeneous processes， and developing SOA formation parameterization schemes tailored to China’s complex atmospheric pollution conditions. These advances are essential for deepening the understanding of SOA source contributions and formation pathways in typical urban clusters and background regions， thereby providing a more robust scientific basis for the synergistic control of PM_2.5 and ozone pollution in China.

Keywords： secondary organic aerosol； volatile organic compound； gas-phase oxidation； aqueous-phase reaction； heterogeneous reaction； formation yield； model simulation

Get Citation:Zang Han， Zhou Qiqi， Zhao Yue， et al. Research progress on yields， chemical mechanisms， and model parameterization of atmospheric secondary organic aerosol in China ［J］. China Powder Science and Technology， 2027， 33（2）： 209-222.

Received:2026-08-06， Revised： 2026-09-16， Online： 2026-10-09。

Funding： The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 22376137) and the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFC3701003).

DOI：10.13732/j.issn.1008-5548.2027.02.015

CLC No.:TB4； TQ324.8

Type Code:A

Serial No.:1008-5548（2027）02-0209-14