In this paper, the dipole–dipole approximation is used to characterize the dynamical electromagnetic properties of two types of carbonaceous nanoparticles modelling the basic constituents of aircraft soot particles. The corresponding polarizability per unit volume is then compared with the one calculated for equivalent defect-free structures and with the one resulting from a continuum model. It is found that the polarizability per unit volume strongly depends on the details of the structure of the nanoparticle, and that this dependence could be used to discriminate between different carbonaceous particles using optical scattering experiments in the visible or near-UV domain.