title: A sensitive gas chromatography detector based on atmospheric pressure chemical ionization by a dielectric barrier discharge.
abstract: In this work, we present a novel concept for a gas chromatography detector utilizing an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization which is initialized by a dielectric barrier discharge. In general, such a detector can be simple and low-cost, while achieving extremely good limits of detection. However, it is non-selective apart from the use of chemical dopants. Here, a demonstrator manufactured entirely from fused silica capillaries and printed circuit boards is shown. It has a size of 75×60×25mm3and utilizes only 2W of power in total. Unlike other known discharge detectors, which require high-purity helium, this detector can theoretically be operated using any gas able to form stable ion species. Here, purified air is used. With this setup, limits of detection in the low parts-per-billion range have been obtained for acetone.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institute of Electrical Engineering and Measurement Technology, Appelstr. 9A, 30167 Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: kirk@geml.uni-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Ansgar T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institute of Electrical Engineering and Measurement Technology, Appelstr. 9A, 30167 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Torben
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Last
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institute of Electrical Engineering and Measurement Technology, Appelstr. 9A, 30167 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
mesh_terms: D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D002138:Calibration; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D004560:Electricity; D007477:Ions; D057230:Limit of Detection; D013058:Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D007477:Ions
keywords: Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization; Detector; Dielectric barrier discharge; Ion mobility; Ionization detector