Physicochemical Analysis of Particle Matter from a Gasoline Direct Injection Engine Based on the China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle

This paper investigated the physical and chemical properties of gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine particulate matter (PM). The physical properties mainly included the particulate aggregate morphology, primary particle size, and internal nanostructure. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to obtain particle morphology information and to conduct image processing and analysis. The chemical characterization tests included X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy dispersive scanning (EDS), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). XPS can be used to observe the content of carbon and oxygen components and the surface carbon chemistry status, EDS can be used to obtain the elemental composition of particles, and TGA is used to analyze the oxidative kinetics of particles. Samples were collected from the exhaust emissions of a passenger vehicle compliant with China’s VI emission standards under China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle (CLTC) test conditions. The study found that the particle morphology mainly comprised primary particles stacked on top of each other to form agglomerate structures, and the primary particles exhibited a core–shell structure. Analysis showed that carbon and oxygen were the predominant components of the particles, with other metallic elements also present. The XPS observations agreed with the FTIR results, indicating a small amount of oxygen was present on the particle surface and that the carbon components consisted mainly of sp2 hybridized graphite and sp3 hybridized organic carbon. The TGA results indicated high characteristic temperatures and low oxidation activity.