Abstract
We determine the sensitivity of several commercial atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometers towards ambient vapors, ionized by contact with an electrospray of acidified or ammoniated solvent, a technique often referred to as secondary electrospray ionization (SESI). Although a record limit of detection of 0.2 × 10−12 atmospheres (0.2 ppt) is found for explosives such as PETN and 0.4 ppt for TNT (without preconcentration), this still implies the need for some 108–109 vapor molecules/s for positive identification of explosives. This extremely inefficient use of sample is partly due to low charging probability (∼10−4), finite ion transmission, and counting probability in the mass spectrometer (1/10 in quadrupoles), and a variable combination of duty cycle and background noise responsible typically for a 103 factor loss of useful signal.
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Martínez-Lozano, P., Rus, J., Fernández de la Mora, G. et al. Secondary electrospray ionization (SESI) of ambient vapors for explosive detection at concentrations below parts per trillion. J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 20, 287–294 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasms.2008.10.006
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasms.2008.10.006