Issue 10, 2021

Hyper-fast gas chromatography and single-photon ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry with integrated electrical modulator-based sampling for headspace and online VOC analyses

Abstract

We developed a novel fast gas chromatography (fastGC) instrument with integrated sampling of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and detection by single-photon ionisation (SPI) time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS). A consumable-free electrical modulator rapidly cools down to −55 °C to trap VOCs and inject them on a short chromatographic column by prompt heating to 300 °C, followed by carrier gas exchange from air to helium. Due to the low thermal mass and optical heating, the fastGC is operated within total runtimes including cooling for 30 s and 15 s, referring to hyper-fast GC, and at a constantly increasing temperature ramp from 30 °C to 280 °C. The application of soft SPI-TOFMS allows the detection of co-eluting VOCs of different molecular compositions, which cannot be resolved by conventional GC (cGC) with electron ionisation (EI). Among other analytical figures of merit, we achieved limits of detection for toluene and p-xylene of 2 ppb and 0.5 ppb, respectively, at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 and a linear response over a range of more than five orders of magnitude. Furthermore, we demonstrate the performance of the instrument on samples from the fields of environmental research and food science by headspace analysis of roasted coffee beans and needles from coniferous trees as well as by quasi-real-time analysis of biomass burning emissions and coffee roast gas.

Graphical abstract: Hyper-fast gas chromatography and single-photon ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry with integrated electrical modulator-based sampling for headspace and online VOC analyses

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 ene. 2021
Accepted
31 mar. 2021
First published
04 may. 2021

Analyst, 2021,146, 3137-3149

Hyper-fast gas chromatography and single-photon ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry with integrated electrical modulator-based sampling for headspace and online VOC analyses

C. Gehm, K. Schnepel, H. Czech, T. Miersch, S. Ehlert and R. Zimmermann, Analyst, 2021, 146, 3137 DOI: 10.1039/D1AN00114K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements