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.
Sax
Mirjam
M
Department of Chemistry and Applied Bioscience, ETH Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
Kalberer
Markus
M
Zenobi
Renato
R
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