Membrane-Extraction Ion Mobility Spectrometry for In-Situ Detection of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons in Water

Abstract

Membrane-extraction ion mobility spectrometry (ME-IMS) has been developed for in-situ sampling and analysis of trace chlorinated hydrocarbons in water in a single procedure. The sampling is configured so that aqueous contaminants permeate through a spiral hollow polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane and are carried away by a vapor flow through the membrane tube. The extracted analyte flows into an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) chamber and is analyzed in a home-made IMS analyzer. PDMS membrane is found to effectively extract chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents from liquid phase to vapor. The specialized IMS analyzer has been found to have resolutions of R=33 and 41, respectively, for negative- and positive-modes and is capable of detecting aqueous tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) as low as 80 g/L and 74 g/L in negative ion mode, respectively. The time-dependent characteristics of sampling and detection of TCE are both experimentally and theoretically studied for various concentrations, membrane lengths, and flow rates. These characteristics demonstrate that membrane-extraction IMS is feasible for the continuous monitoring of chlorinated hydrocarbons in water.