title: Autonomous in situ analysis and real-time chemical detection using a backpack miniature mass spectrometer: concept, instrumentation development, and performance.
abstract: A major design objective of portable mass spectrometers is the ability to perform in situ chemical analysis on target samples in their native states in the undisturbed environment. The miniature instrument described here is fully contained in a wearable backpack (10 kg) with a geometry-independent low-temperature plasma (LTP) ion source integrated into a hand-held head unit (2 kg) to allow direct surface sampling and analysis. Detection of chemical warfare agent (CWA) simulants, illicit drugs, and explosives is demonstrated at nanogram levels directly from surfaces in near real time including those that have complex geometries, those that are heat-sensitive, and those bearing complex sample matrices. The instrument consumes an average of 65 W of power and can be operated autonomously under battery power for ca. 1.5 h, including the initial pump-down of the manifold. The maximum mass-to-charge ratio is 925 Th with mass resolution of 1-2 amu full width at half-maximun (fwhm) across the mass range. Multiple stages of tandem analysis can be performed to identify individual compounds in complex mixtures. Both positive and negative ion modes are available. A graphical user interface (GUI) is available for novice users to facilitate data acquisition and real-time spectral matching.
authors: Department of Chemistry, Purdue University , West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States.
authors: Paul I
authors: PI
authors: Hendricks
authors: Jon K
authors: JK
authors: Dalgleish
authors: Jacob T
authors: JT
authors: Shelley
authors: Matthew A
authors: MA
authors: Kirleis
authors: Matthew T
authors: MT
authors: McNicholas
authors: Linfan
authors: L
authors: Li
authors: Tsung-Chi
authors: TC
authors: Chen
authors: Chien-Hsun
authors: CH
authors: Chen
authors: Jason S
authors: JS
authors: Duncan
authors: Frank
authors: F
authors: Boudreau
authors: Robert J
authors: RJ
authors: Noll
authors: John P
authors: JP
authors: Denton
authors: Timothy A
authors: TA
authors: Roach
authors: Zheng
authors: Z
authors: Ouyang
authors: R Graham
authors: RG
authors: Cooks
mesh_terms: D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D008904:Miniaturization; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface