Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Pulsed Discharge Helium Ionization Detector for Highly Sensitive Aquametry

  • Published:
Analytical Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Trace moisture quantitation is crucial in medical, civilian and military applications. Current aquametry technologies are limited by the sample volume, reactivity, or interferences, and/or instrument size, weight, power, cost, and complexity. We report for the first time on the use of a pulsed discharge helium ionization detector (PDHID-D2) (~196 cm3) for the sensitive (limit of detection, 0.047 ng; 26 ppm), linear (r2 >0.99), and rapid (< 2 min) quantitation of water using a small (0.2–5.0 μL) volume of liquid or gas. The relative humidity sensitivity was 0.22% (61.4 ppmv) with a limit of detection of less than 1 ng moisture with gaseous samples. The sensitivity was 10 to 100 to fold superior to competing technologies without the disadvantages inherent to these technologies. The PDHID-D2, due to its small footprint and low power requirement, has good size, weight, and power-portability (SWAPP) factors. The relatively low cost (~$5000) and commercial availability of the PDHID-D2 makes our technique applicable to highly sensitive aquametry.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. J. Smith Jr.. and D.M. Smith, "Aquametry. A Treatise on Methods for the Determination of Water", 2nd ed., 1977, Vol. 1-3, John Wiley and Sons, New York, Chichester, Brisbane, Toronto.

  2. P.C. Sanfelix and G.R. Darling, J. Phys. Chem. C, 2007, 111, 18258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. M.T. Goebel and C.S. Marvel, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1933, 55, 1693.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. C.R. Armstrong, M. Nyman, T. Shvareva, G.E. Sigmon, P.C. Burns, A. Navrotsky, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 2012, 109, 1874.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. S. Murray, C. Hillman, M. Pecht, J. Electron. Packag., 2004, 126, 390.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. B. Strus, A. Sobczynska, M. Wisniewski, Fuel, 2008, 87, 957.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. H.H. Funke, M.W. Raynor, B. Yucelen, V.H. Houlding, J. Electron. Mater., 2001, 30, 1438.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. G.G. Devyatykh and P.G. Sennikov, Russ. Chem. Rev., 1995, 64, 817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Z. Chen and C. Lu, Sens. Lett., 2005, 3, 274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. H.H. Funke, B.L. Grissom, C.E. McGrew, M.W. Raynor, Rev. Sci. Instrum., 2003, 74, 3908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. F.F. Andrawes and E.K. Gibson, Anal. Chem., 1980, 52, 846.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. W.E. Wentworth, S.V. Vasnin, S.D. Stearns, C.J. Meyer, Chromatographia, 1992, 34, 219.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. J. Jalbert, R. Gilbert, P. Tetreault, Anal. Chem., 2001, 73, 3382.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. D.S. Forsyth, J. Chromatogr. A, 2004, 1050, 63.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. P.R. Lewis, R.P. Manginell, D.R. Adkins, R.J. Kottenstette, D.R. Wheeler, S.S. Sokolowski, D.E. Trudell, J.E. Byrnes, M. Okandan, J.M. Bauer, R.G. Manley, G.G. Frye-Mason, IEEE Sens. J., 2006, 6, 784.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. S.K. Kim, H. Chang, E.T. Zellers, Anal. Chem., 2011, 83, 7198.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. D.B.G. Williams and M. Lawton, J. Org. Chem., 2010, 75, 8351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. L. Greenspan, J. Res. Natl. Bur. Stand. Sect. A, 1977, 81A, 89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. K.E. Achyuthan and D.G. Whitten, Comb. Chem. High Throughput Screening, 2007, 10, 399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. R.P. Manginell, J.M. Bauer, M.W. Moorman, L.J. Sanchez, J.M. Anderson, J.J. Whiting, D.A. Porter, D. Copic, K.E. Achyuthan, Sensors, 2011, 11, 6517.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. R.P. Manginell, A.S. Pimentel, C.D. Mowry, M.A. Mangan, M.W. Moorman, A. Allen, E.S. Schares, K.E. Achyuthan, J. Breath Res., 2013, 7, 037107.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. J.G. Dojahn, W.E. Wentworth, S.D. Stearns, J. Chromatogr. Sci., 2001, 39, 54.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. J. Liang, M.C. Elliot, V. Cammarata, Electroanalysis, 2009, 21, 2542.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. United States Environment Protection Agency, 24/24A, Part 60, Title 40, CFR, Appendix A and ASTM D3792-91 procedure for water determination using GC/TCID.

  25. M. Ren, E.S. Forzani, N. Tao, Anal. Chem., 2005, 77, 2700.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. S.I. Ohira, K. Goto, K. Toda, P.K. Dasgupta, Anal. Chem., 2012, 84, 8891.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. D.A. Jayawardhana, R.M. Woods, Y. Zhang, C. Wang, D.A. Armstrong, LC-GC, 2012, 30, 142.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. A.G. Berezin, A.I. Nadezhdinskii, D.B. Stavroskii, I.E. Vyazov, A.P. Kotkov, V.A. Ivanov, N.D. Grishnova, D.M. Polezhaev, V.A. Sidorov, D.A. Kotkov, Appl. Phys. B, 2008, 90, 317.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. S. Mendonca, W.E. Wentworth, E.C.M. Chen, S.D. Stearns, J. Chromatogr. A, 1996, 749, 131.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. D.B. Wurm, K. Sun, W.L. Winniford, J. Chromatogr. Sci., 2003, 41, 545.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. B.L. Winniford, K. Sun, J.F. Griffith, J.C. Luong, J. Sep. Sci., 2006, 29, 2664.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. M. Sleiman, P. Conchon, C. Ferronato, J.M. Chovelon, Appl. Catal. B, 2009, 86, 159.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. H. Saito, N. Suzuki, K.U. Takahashi, Geochem. J., 2012, 46, 255.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. J. Jalbert and R. Gilbert, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, 1997, 12, 754.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. L.A. Frink, C.A. Weatherly, D.W. Armstrong, J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal., 2014, 94, 111.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. M.T. Roberge, J.W. Finley, H.C. Lukaski, A.J. Borgerding, J. Chromatogr. A, 2004, 1027, 19.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. J.B. Dudek, P.B. Tarsa, A. Velasquez, M. Wladyslawski, P. Rabinowitz, K.K. Lehmann, Anal. Chem., 2003, 75, 4599.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. R.P. Manginell, C.D. Mowry, A.S. Pimentel, M.A. Mangan, M.W. Moorman, E.S. Sparks, A. Allen, K.E. Achyuthan, Anal. Sci., 2015, 31, 1183.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. S. Narayanan, G. Rice, M. Agah, Microchim. Acta, 2014, 181, 493.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. S. Narayanan, G. Rice, M. Agah, Sens. Actuators, B, 2015, 206, 190.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. We thank the two anonymous Reviewers for their valuable comments which considerably strengthened the overall quality, clarity, and brevity of this paper. This work was supported by Sandia’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project #151318 awarded to Dr. Ronald Manginell.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Characterization Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185, USA

    Curtis D. Mowry, Adam S. Pimentel & Elizabeth S. Sparks

  2. Bio/Chem/Physical Microsensors Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185, USA

    Matthew W. Moorman, Komandoor E. Achyuthan & Ronald P. Manginell

Authors
  1. Curtis D. Mowry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Adam S. Pimentel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Elizabeth S. Sparks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Matthew W. Moorman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Komandoor E. Achyuthan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ronald P. Manginell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Curtis D. Mowry.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mowry, C.D., Pimentel, A.S., Sparks, E.S. et al. Pulsed Discharge Helium Ionization Detector for Highly Sensitive Aquametry. ANAL. SCI. 32, 177–181 (2016). https://doi.org/10.2116/analsci.32.177

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2116/analsci.32.177

Keywords

Search

Navigation