[Quantitative evaluation for separation of water-soluble and water-insoluble particulate matter on leaf surface of tree species: Taking five tree species as examples.] / 植物叶片表面水溶与非水溶性颗粒物滞纳量分离定量评估­­ä»¥5ç§æ ‘ç§ä¸ºä¾‹.

To accurately and quantitatively evaluate the mass and particle size distribution of water-soluble and water-insoluble particulate matters (PM) on the surface of tree leaves, which would help to improve the accuracy of quantitative assessment of the retention ability of urban trees to atmospheric particles, we collected leaf samples from three broadleaved tree species [Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), Chinese scholar tree (Sophora japonica) and weeping willow (Salix babylonica)] and two conifer species [Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis) and China savin (Sabina chinensis)] 14 d after the rain (rainfall>15 mm). The PMs retained on leaves were collected by a succeeding procedure of washing + brushing (WC+BC) and ultrasonic cleaning (UC). Then, the extracts at each step were divided into water-soluble and water-insoluble PMs through centrifuge. The mass of water-soluble and water-insoluble particles were dry weighted. Then, the water-soluble and water-insoluble particles were dissolved by anhydrous ethanol and deionized water to measure the particle size distribution. The mass of water-soluble and water-insoluble particles with different particle sizes was calculated. Results showed that the mass (proportion) of water-soluble PMs retained on leaf surfaces of broad-leaved and conifer species were 480.61 (52.3%) and 438.91 (47.7%) mg·m-2, respectively, while that for water-insoluble PMs were 97.93 (12.0%) and 715.84 (88.0%) mg·m-2, respectively. The particle size distribution of water-soluble particles on the leaves of the five tree species showed the unimodal curve with mean size of 40.36 µm. Water-insoluble particles on leaves showed multimodal distribution, with mean size of 105.65 µm. S. japonica and G. biloba had higher PM retention ability in regions suffering with more water-soluble PM pollution, while S. chinensis had higher retention ability to water-insoluble PMs.