Physical and chemical characteristics of particles emitted by a passenger vehicle at the tire-road contact

Asma Beji; Karine Deboudt; Bogdan Muresan; Salah Khardi; Pascal Flament; Marc Fourmentin; Laurence Lumiere

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139874

Physical and chemical characteristics of particles emitted by a passenger vehicle at the tire-road contact

Chemosphere. 2023 Nov:340:139874. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139874. Epub 2023 Aug 19.

Authors

Asma Beji¹, Karine Deboudt², Bogdan Muresan³, Salah Khardi⁴, Pascal Flament⁵, Marc Fourmentin⁵, Laurence Lumiere³

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry of the Atmosphere (LPCA), Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO), 59140, Dunkerque, France; Environment-Planning, Safety and Eco-design (EASE-AME) Laboratory, Gustave Eiffel University, 77454, Marne-la-Vallée, France.
² Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry of the Atmosphere (LPCA), Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO), 59140, Dunkerque, France. Electronic address: karine.deboudt@univ-littoral.fr.
³ Environment-Planning, Safety and Eco-design (EASE-AME) Laboratory, Gustave Eiffel University, 77454, Marne-la-Vallée, France.
⁴ University of Lyon, CNRS, INSA Lyon, LaMCoS, UMR 5259, 69621, Villeurbanne, France.
⁵ Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry of the Atmosphere (LPCA), Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO), 59140, Dunkerque, France.

PMID: 37604335
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139874

Abstract

Non-exhaust emissions are now recognized as a significant source of atmospheric particulate matter and the trend towards a reduction of conventionally fueled internal combustion engine vehicles on the road is increasing their contribution to air pollution due to lower exhaust emissions. These particles include brake wear particles (BWP) and tire-road contact particles (TRCP), which are composed of tire wear particles (TWP), road wear particles (RWP) and resuspended road dust (RRD). The goal of this study has therefore been to design an original experimental approach to provide insight into the chemical composition of particles emitted at the tire-road contact, focusing on the micron (PM_10-1μm) and submicron (PM_1-0.1μm) fractions. Through this characterization, an examination of the different TRCP generated by different materials (tire, road surface, brake system) was conducted. To achieve this, TRCP were collected at the rear of the wheel of an instrumented vehicle during road and track tests, and a SEM-EDX analysis was performed. Our experimental conditions have allowed us to demonstrate that, at the individual particle scale, TRCP are consistently associated with road dust materials and particles solely composed of tire or road materials are practically non-existent. The contribution of BWP to TRCP is marked by the emission of Fe-rich particles, including heavy metals like Ba, Mn and Cr. TWP, which result from rubber abrasion, consist of C-rich particles abundant in Si, Zn, and S. RWP, mainly composed of Al, Si, Fe, and Ca, can be either part of RRD or internally mixed with emitted TWP. The findings of this study highlight the substantial role of RRD to TRCP emissions under real driving conditions. Consequently, it underscores the importance of examining them simultaneously to achieve a more accurate estimation of on-road traffic emissions beyond the vehicle exhaust.

Keywords: Individual particle composition; Non-exhaust emission; Road dust; SEM-EDX; Tire-road wear particles.

MeSH terms

Air Pollution*
Dust
Particulate Matter
Rubber
Vehicle Emissions*

Substances

Dust
Particulate Matter
Rubber
Vehicle Emissions