Laser mass spectrometry of a frozen water matrix in environmental analysis

Abstract

A CO₂ laser evaporation–KrF laser ionization technique combined with reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used to analyse tap water polluted with phenol. A minimum phenol concentration of 1 µg l^–1 was detected during test. Molecules evaporated by laser from the frozen water surface were found to show significant decreases in temperature, down to 150 K.