LIAD/Polymer/Petroleum

Mass spectrometry requires the analyte to survive both evaporation and ionization without decomposition to obtain molecular weight information. Polymers are nonvolatile and resistant to ionization. While ESI and MALDI can analyze polar hydrocarbons new methods to examine the nonpolar hydrocarbons are needed.

Possible solution:

 LIAD provides uncoupling of desorption and ionization steps to be optimized individually

 

One project involves using a chemical ionization reagent, cyclopentadienyl cobalt (CpCo+.) to ionization non-polar hydrocarbons such as polyethylene, polyisobutylene and polystyrene evaporated by LIAD.

                                A mock mixture of individual alkanes examined by LIAD/CpCo+. method

 

 


 

                         

 

 


 

 

 Campbell, J.L.; Crawford, K.E.; Kenttämaa, H.I.  Analysis of saturated hydrocarbons by using chemical ionization combined with laser-induced acoustic desorption/Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry.  Anal. Chem. 2004, 76, 959-963.

 

Another project examines the LIAD/CpCo+. method for analysis of petroleum distillates which are complex mixtures of polyaromatic, olefinic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, including small amounts of various heteroatom-containing hydrocarbons.