Atmospheric particulate matter has become the primary pollutant of urban air. Due to the difficulty and high technical requirements of accurately determining the chemical composition of atmospheric particulate matter, corresponding reference materials are needed to ensure the accuracy and traceability of the measurement results. This article summarized the research progress of atmospheric particulate reference materials domestic and overseas in terms of source composition, sample collection, preparation technology, target components and analysis technics. The problems with domestic reference materials of atmospheric particulates were analyzed, including a few matrix types, backward sampling and preparation technology, and shortage of samples. Based on the foreign research experience and China’s major needs for environmental monitoring and governance, research designs were made to ensure the representativeness and practicability of reference materials of atmospheric particulates. The innovation is that based on the composition and source analysis results of atmospheric particulate matter, main source substances should be collected in the study area, and the combination of source substances will be prepared according to the target matrix and content requirements, finally a series of target content candidates sample will be obtained.