Specific O2− generation in corona discharge for ion mobility spectrometry

This study deals with O2− generation in corona discharge (CD) in point to plane geometry for single flow ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) with gas outlet located behind the ionization source. We have designed CD of special geometry in order to achieve the high O2− yield. Using this ion source we have achieved in zero air conditions that up to 74% all negative ions were O2− or O2−(H2O). It has been demonstrated that the non-electronegative nitrogen positively influences the efficiency of O2− generation in O2/N2 mixtures. The reduced ion mobility of 2.27 cm2 V−1 s−1 has been measured for O2−/O2−(H2O) ions in zero air. Additional ions detected in zero air (less than 200 ppb CO2) using the mass spectrometric and IMS technique were, NO2−, N2O2− (2.37 cm2 V−1 s−1), NO3−, N2O3− and N2O3−(H2O). The CO3− and CO4− ions have been detected after the introduction of 5 ppm CO2 into zero air.