Non-proximate mass spectrometry using a heated 1-m long PTFE tube and an air-tight APCI ion source

- Non-proximate mass spectrometry for the trace-level gas analysis was developed.
- Using a 1-m long flexible PTFE tube, it can be applicable to complicated-shape real-world samples.
- By atmospheric pressure chemical ionization in the airtight ion source, sub-pg limits of detection were attained.
- Adsorption of less-volatility compounds was negligible with the tube temperature at 130° C.
- Novel experimental results obtained were fully examined by density functional theory calculations.

Direct and rapid trace-level gas analysis is highly needed in various fields such as safety and security, quality control, food analysis, and forensic medicine. In many cases, the real samples are bulky and are not accessible to the space-limited ion source of the mass spectrometer. In order to circumvent this problem, we developed an airtight atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization (APCI) ion source equipped with a flexible 1-m-long, 2-mm-i.d. PTFE sniffing tube. The ambient air bearing sample gas was sucked into the heated PTFE tube (130 °C) and was transported to the air-tight ion source without using any extra pumping system or a Venturi device. Analytes were ionized by an ac corona discharge located at 1.5 mm from the inlet of the mass spectrometer. By using the airtight ion source, all the ionized gas in the ion source was introduced into the vacuum of the mass spectrometer via only the evacuation of the mass spectrometer (1.6 l min−1). Sub-pg limits of detection were obtained for carbaryl and trinitrotoluene. Owing to its flexibility and high sensitivity, the sniffing tube coupled with a mass spectrometer can be used as the stethoscope for the high-sensitive gas analysis. The experimental results obtained for drugs, hydrogen peroxide and small alkanes were discussed by DFT calculations.

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