Application of a Self-developed Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometer to On-line Monitoring Trace Volatile Organic Compounds in Ambient Air

• Published in: Chemical research in Chinese universities Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 565 - 569
• Main Authors: Kang, Meng, Zou, Xue, Lu, Yan, Wang, Hongmei, Shen, Chengyin, Jiang, Haihe, Chu, Yannan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Changchun Jilin University and The Editorial Department of Chemical Research in Chinese Universities 01.08.2016
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemistry/Food Science; Inorganic Chemistry; Organic Chemistry; Physical Chemistry; 实时在线监测; 应用; 挥发性有机化合物; 挥发性有机物; 环境空气; 痕量; 质子转移反应; 质谱仪; Proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry; Volatile organic compounds(VOCs); On-line monitoring
• ISSN: 1005-9040; 2210-3171
• DOI: 10.1007/s40242-016-5462-6

Real-time and on-line monitoring volatile organic compounds（VOCs） are valuable for real-time evalua- ting air quality and monitoring the key source of pollution. A self-developed proton transfer reaction-mass spectro- meter（PTR-MS） was constructed and applied to on-line monitoring trace VOCs in ambient air in Hefei, China. With the help of a self-developed catalytic converter, the background signal of the instrument was detected and the stability of the instrument was evaluated. The relative standard deviation of signal at m/z 21 was only 0.74% and the detection limit of PTR-MS was 97 part per trillion（97x 10-12, volume ratio）. As a case of the air monitoring in Hefei, the am- bient air at Dongpu reservoir spot was on-line monitored for 13 d with our self-developed PTR-MS. Meanwhile, a solid-phase micro-extraction（SPME） technique coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry （GC-MS/MS） was also used for the off-line detection of the air. The results show that our self-developed PTR-MS can be used for the on-line and long-term monitoring of VOCs in air at part per trillion level, and the change trend of VOCs concentration monitored with PTR-MS was consistent with that detected with the conventional SPME-GC-MS. This self-developed PTR-MS can fully satisfy the requirements of air quality monitoring and real-time monitoring of the key pollution sources.