title: A Novel Microwave-Induced Plasma Ionization Source for Ion Mobility Spectrometry.
abstract: This work demonstrates the application of a novel microwave induced plasma ionization (MIPI) source to ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). The MIPI source, called Surfatron, is composed of a copper cavity and a hollow quartz discharge tube. The ion mobility spectrum of synthetics air has a main peak with reduced mobility of 2.14 cm2V-1s-1for positive ion mode and 2.29 cm2V-1s-1for negative ion mode. The relative standard deviations (RSD) are 0.7% and 1.2% for positive and negative ion mode, respectively. The total ion current measured was more than 3.5 nA, which is much higher than that of the conventional63Ni source. This indicates that a better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be acquired from the MIPI source. The SNR was 110 in the analysis of 500 pptv methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), resulting in the limit of detection (SNR = 3) of 14 pptv. The linear range covers close to 2.5 orders of magnitude in the detection of triethylamine with a concentration range from 500 pptv to 80 ppbv. Finally, this new MIPI-IMS was used to detect some volatile organic compounds, which demonstrated that the MIPI-IMS has great potential in monitoring pollutants in air.
authors.affiliation: Analytical and Testing Center, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jianxiong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhongjun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Gaoling
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Analytical Instrumentation, Key Laboratory of Bio-resource and Eco-environment, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yixiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Duan