Sampling gaseous oxidation products of aromatic compounds in gas/particle separation systems.
In this study we performed a direct comparison between two different ambient air samplers to characterize their performance in sampling oxidized gaseous organic compounds, known as oxidation products of aromatics. We investigated compounds with a variety of functional groups and vapor pressures. A polyurethane foam (PUF) adsorbent and an annular diffusion denuder sampler were operated along with particle filters. In both systems the sampling devices were liquid-extracted, followed by derivatization and analysis by GC-MS. The PUF system works very well for aromatic as well as non-aromatic compounds, whereas the denuder shows smaller collection efficiencies for highly volatile non-aromatic compounds. In addition, the sampling efficiencies in the PUF set-up are in good agreement with the calculated vapor pressures of the compounds and also the particle phase is not affected by most compounds.
Department of Chemistry and Applied Bioscience, ETH Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
Mirjam
M
Sax
Markus
M
Kalberer
Renato
R
Zenobi
D000327:Adsorption; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D003252:Construction Materials; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / Q000032:analysis*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D011140:Polyurethanes; D014835:Volatilization
D000393:Air Pollutants; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D011140:Polyurethanes; C028279:polyurethane foam