Process and system for facilitating chemical identification in detector

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a process for facilitating the identification of target chemicals which may be detected by means of an ion mobility spectrometer and a system for implementing the same. In an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a process for determining the ratio of CI" to CI".OOH reactant ion species formed in a pentachloroethane doped ion mobility spectrometer operating in negative mode, said process comprising: i) introducing a sample comprising or consisting essentially of isoflurane into a pentachloroethane doped ion mobility spectrometer; ii) collecting data relevant to the detection of two isoflurane monomer ions formed following reaction with CI" and CI".OOH reactant ion species present in the pentachloroethane doped ion mobility spectrometer; and iii) determining the ratio of CI" to CI".OOH reactant ion species formed in the pentachloroethane doped ion mobility spectrometer based on an evaluation of the data collected.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to methods for facilitating the identification of target chemical species that can be determined by means of ion mobility spectrometry. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method involving the use of isoflurane to facilitate the identification of target chemical species in a sample that is doped with pentachloroethane using a negative mode ion mobility spectrometer (pentachloroethane doped negative mode ion mobility spectrometer ) for analysis. Background technique [0002] Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is an analytical technique capable of separating gas-phase ions based on the ratio of ion size to charge caused by the ion-carrier gas interaction in an electric field. IMS is capable of identifying chemical species based on the ionized chemical species passing through a drift chamber separating the ionizer and detector. The output of the IMS detector can be visualized as a "mobility spectrum" plotted ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0010] However, it has been found that a problem with the use of PCE as a dopant in negative mode IMS detectors is that it interacts with O in the reaction region. 2 – interacts with free electrons, resulting in the production of two different reactant ions, Cl – and Cl – .OOH

However, when the moisture level in the drift region is high, and depending on the environmental conditions, it has been found that these two ions are not thoroughly resolved in the IMS spectrum

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