Ion mobility spectrometer for online monitoring of trace compounds

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Abstract

The principle, character and developments of the instrumentation of ion mobility spectrometry are reviewed. The application of ion mobility spectrometers in monitoring chemical warfare agents, explosives, drugs, environmental hazardous compounds and industrial process control are discussed. Process applications with respect to miniaturization of the instrument are presented.

Introduction

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) emerged as an analytical technique in 1970s [1], but its development followed an unconventional and uneven pattern. The first enthusiasm for the simplicity of the instrument and the astonishing detection limits for IMS was followed by a broad rejection of the method, because at that time the principles of ion molecule chemistry and ion behavior at atmospheric pressure were poorly understood. During the 1990s, great advances in technology, design and commercialization took place. IMS evolved into an inexpensive and powerful technique for sensitive detection of many trace compounds such as chemical warfare agents [2], drugs of abuse [3], [4], [5], explosives [6], [7] and atmospheric pollutants [8], [9], [10]. Inorganic substances including alkali salts [11] and other metal salts (Al, Mn, Pb, La, Sr, etc.) [12], [13] can also be detected and separated. The advantages of this technique are high sensitivity, low cost, analytical flexibility, and real time monitoring capability. IMS also compares favorably to different organic molecular-based analytical techniques with respect to size, weight, power consumption and information density.

Previously, IMS was consigned to only a few selected security and military applications, and research was performed only in a handful of government, industry and university laboratories. The intent of this paper is to provide the reader an overview of the basic principle, instrumentation and application of IMS, as well as some of the limitations and future possibilities of using this method in analytical chemistry.

Section snippets

Principles of ion mobility spectrometry

The term ion mobility spectrometry refers to the method of characterizing chemical substances using gas-phase mobilities of ions in weak electric fields. It works in a similar way to a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS), the major difference is that TOF-MS requires a vacuum. A typical ion mobility spectrometer is comprised of an ionization source associated with an ion reaction chamber, an ion drift chamber, an ion/molecule injection shutter (e.g. Bradbury–Nielsen-shutter) placed between

Chemical warfare agents, explosives, drugs and explosive-related compounds

Explosives detection has been one of the principle reasons (along with chemical warfare agent and drug detection) for the development of IMS technology [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22]. The combination of sensitivity and ruggedness provides a good solution to the complex issue of explosives counter-terrorism. The IMS systems designed for this application were developed for the detection of explosive particles, rather than vapors released from explosive materials, due to the extremely

Ion sources for IMS

Most of the ion mobility spectrometers use radioactive sources as an ionization source such as 63Ni [38], [39], [40], [41], which is favored due to its simplicity, stability and convenience. This source, however, has serious deficiencies with a limited linear range, inflexible selectivity and the regulatory requirements associated with radioactive materials. In recent years non-radioactive ion sources have been applied more frequently. UV lamps [42], [43], [44] (ionization energy as 10.6 eV),

Conclusion and outlook

Ion mobility spectrometry has become the one of the most successful and widely used technology for the detection of trace levels of compounds in both the laboratory and the field. Micromachining of the instrument promises cost, size and power reductions. The extension of IMS to high molecular weight compounds employing electrospray or MALDI source holds much promise. The development of coupling MS to IMS is crucial to understand complex chemistry occurring in the ionization source and drift

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