Development of an Aerodynamic Lens-Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) Apparatus for Online Detection of Organic Compounds in Aerosol Particles

Yan-wen LI; Xun BAO; Yue-ting DING; Qu LIANG; Qiang-ling ZHANG; Yan LU; Lei XIA; Ya-wei LIU; Xue ZOU; Chao-qun HUANG; Cheng-yin SHEN; Yan-nan CHU

doi:10.7538/zpxb.2024.0019

Zhipu Xuebao (Aug 2024)

Development of an Aerodynamic Lens-Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) Apparatus for Online Detection of Organic Compounds in Aerosol Particles

Yan-wen LI,
Xun BAO,
Yue-ting DING,
Qu LIANG,
Qiang-ling ZHANG,
Yan LU,
Lei XIA,
Ya-wei LIU,
Xue ZOU,
Chao-qun HUANG,
Cheng-yin SHEN,
Yan-nan CHU

Affiliations

Yan-wen LI: Anhui University, Hefei 230039, China
Xun BAO: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
Yue-ting DING: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
Qu LIANG: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
Qiang-ling ZHANG: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
Yan LU: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
Lei XIA: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
Ya-wei LIU: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
Xue ZOU: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
Chao-qun HUANG: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
Cheng-yin SHEN: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
Yan-nan CHU: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7538/zpxb.2024.0019
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 45, no. 5
pp. 624 – 630

Abstract

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Atmospheric organic aerosols consist of both gas-phase organic compounds and particle-phase organic compounds. The components of aerosol particles (solid or liquid droplets) can undergo exchange or chemical reactions with gas-phase components, influencing atmospheric physical and chemical processes and potentially impacting atmospheric environment, climate, and human health. Methods for detecting organic compounds in aerosol particle phase are classified into offline and online detection. Offline detection methods involve collecting aerosol samples for analysis using chromatography-mass spectrometry, which is time-consuming and limited sensitivity. Online detection methods involve enriching aerosols through aerodynamic lens and then detecting them using laser ablation or electron impact ionization techniques. However, these methods usually generate a large number of ion fragments, making mass spectrum analysis difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an online detection method for aerosol particle-phase organic compounds with soft ionization and high sampling efficiency. In the present work, a set of aerodynamic lens sampling systems was designed and developed for online detection and analysis of organic compounds in aerosol particle phase. This sampling system consists of a gas-phase stripping module for removing gas-phase organic compounds, an aerodynamic lens module for particle focusing and enrichment, and a thermal desorption module for extracting particle-phase organic compounds. The efficiency of gas-phase organic compound removal and the particle transmission rate of the gas-phase stripping module were firstly investigated. The results showed that gas-phase stripping module achieves a removal efficiency of 98.89% for gas-phase organic compounds, and the particle transmission rate ranges from 75.16% to 91.15% for particles with the diameters between 295 and 375 nm. Subsequently, the effectiveness of the aerodynamic lens was studied through theoretical simulations. The simulation results indicated that the transmission rate of particles in the diameters of 0.36-6.0 μm is above 90% in the designed aerodynamic lens. Finally, The designed aerodynamic lens sampling system with a homemade proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS) was integrated to develop an aerodynamic lens-PTR-MS device. This device was tested by detecting simulated aerosol samples containing reaction products of α-pinene and ozone. The mass spectrometry results demonstrated that the intensity changes of the examined ten ions are closely related to the presence of α-pinene, confirming that the device can achieve online detection of organic compounds in aerosols ranging from submicron to several micrometers.

Published in Zhipu Xuebao

ISSN: 1004-2997 (Print)
Publisher: Editorial Board of Journal of Chinese Mass Spectrometry Society
Country of publisher: China
LCC subjects: Science: Chemistry
Website: http://www.jcmss.com.cn

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