Water pollution events may arise rapidly, requiring a methodology that is easy to implement, fast to deploy, and sufficiently sensitive to detect the trace presence of hazardous contaminants. A cheap and easy to use silicone rubber (polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)) miniature passive sampler is described. In order to test the methodology, pollutants were concentrated, in situ, from surface water in ...

In this study, a QuEChERS method and gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GCTOFMS) was developed for rapid extraction and simultaneous determination of 12 pesticide residues in honey. The GC×GC-TOFMS method was validated according to the SANCO guidance in terms of linearity, selectivity, reproducibility and recovery. Regarding the results, recovery rates ranged b...

The liquid product obtained via the biomass flash pyrolysis is commonly called bio-oil or pyrolysis oil. Bio-oils can be used as sources for chemicals or as fuels, primarily in mixtures or emulsions with fossil fuels. A detailed chemical characterization of bio-oil is necessary to determine its potential uses. Such characterization demands a powerful analytical technique such as comprehensive t...

We discuss issues involved with interpreting time-offlight mass spectra (TOFMS) obtained by the Chemical Analyser subsystem of the Cassini Cosmic Dust Analyser (CDA). We use an in-house ion dynamics code specifically written for CDA which helps us to understand and constrain the initial impact plasma ion kinetic energy and angular distributions. We also present some typical results obtained fro...

Ion mobility spectrometry-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (IMS-TOFMS) has been increasingly used in analysis of complex biological samples. A major challenge is to transform IMS-TOFMS to a high-sensitivity, high-throughput platform, for example, for proteomics applications. In this work, we have developed and integrated three advanced technologies, including efficient ion accumulation in an io...

We constructed a new chemical ionization timeof-flight mass spectrometer (CI-TOFMS) that measures atmospheric trace gases in real time with high sensitivity. We apply the technique to the measurement of formic acid via negative-ion proton transfer, using acetate as the reagent ion. A novel high pressure interface, incorporating two RF-only quadrupoles is used to efficiently focus ions through f...

Hydroxy hydroperoxides are formed upon OH oxidation of volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere and may contribute to secondary aerosol growth aqueous phase chemistry after transfer particles. Although detection methods for oxidized improved much over past decades, limited availability synthetic standards atmospherically relevant hydroxy prevented comprehensive investigations most part. Her...

Three sample preparation strategies commonly employed in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) of whole bacterial cells were investigated for the detection of high mass signals; these included the dried droplet, the seed-layer/two-layer, and the bottom-layer methods. Different sample preparation approaches favoured the detection of high- or low-mass protein...