Ls. Riter et al., Single-sided membrane introduction mass spectrometry for on-line determination of semi-volatile organic compounds in air, ANALYST, 126(11), 2001, pp. 1980-1984
Construction, optimization, and testing of a novel single-sided configurati
on for a semi-permeable [poly( dimethylsiloxane); PDMS] membrane introducti
on system for mass spectrometry is described. On-line detection of semi-vol
atile organic compounds of environmental interest is shown, including linda
ne (a pesticide), hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) (an explosi
ve), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) (an antioxidant), 1,2-dichlorobenzene,
dimethylmethyl phosphonate (DMMP) (a chemical warfare agent simulant) and n
aphthalene. The technique has limits of detection in the sub-ppb range, wit
h rise times of 4 to 7 s and fall times of 12 to 36 s and a response that i
s linear over 4 orders of magnitude (from 0.1 ppb to 1000 ppb for DMMP). Th
e cycle time, from crude air sampling to acquisition of results, is approxi
mately 1 min. No sample preparation is necessary.