Rapid identification of polymer additives by atmospheric solid analysis probe with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Abstract

A rapid identification method has been developed for polymer additives by ASAP-QTOFMS. A MS library of 100 polymer additives was built by this method. Using ASAP-QTOFMS assisted by the pre-built MS library, polymer additives can be quickly identified. This method was found to be a promising tool in the rapid analysis of additives in polymers and polymer matrices.

Identification and Quantification of Unknown Antioxidants in Plastic Materials by Ultrasonic Extraction and Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

“…3,4 These chemicals could potentially endanger human health, and thus the antioxidant additives in polymers need to be identified and quantified for quality control. [5][6][7][8] To date, mass spectrometry has been broadly applied in analyses of additives, including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, 9,10 high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, 11 real-time mass spectrometry (DART-MS), 12 atmospheric solid probe with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry 13 and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. 14 Prior to qualitative and quantitative analysis of antioxidants, sample pretreatment is the most important step because of the trace contents of these compounds in plastic packaging.…”

The role of mass spectrometry and related techniques in the analysis of extractable and leachable chemicals

“…Desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) was similarly applied for detection of additives, and highlighted the ability to obtain semi‐quantitative results (Reiter et al, ) and to screen lot‐to‐lot variation (Liu et al, ). In an extension of rapid screening, an atmospheric solid absorption probe (ASAP) was used to compile the high‐resolution tandem mass spectrometry data and the associated dissociation mechanisms of 100 E&L additives into a database (Du and Zhang, ). Although the use of these ambient ionization sources for E&L are currently limited in qualitative and quantitative capabilties compared to other chromatography combined with MS detection systems, they still warrent close monitoring while they evolve in the future.…”

Poly(ethylene glycol) Hydrogel Crosslinking Chemistries Identified via Atmospheric Solids Analysis Probe Mass Spectrometry

“…Compared to conventional pyrolysis probes, the ASAP source is operated at relatively low temperatures (≤500 °C), yielding not only monomeric but also oligomeric species that provide molecular connectivity detail. Further microstructural verification and complementary information on the thermal stability and degradation pathways of the polymer can be gained by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) experiments. − In the past 13 years, ASAP-MS and ASAP-MS/MS have been used extensively to characterize polymer additives as well as diverse, relatively low molecular weight synthetic polymers, − including PEG, polystyrene, PU, and PDMS . An ASAP source combined with ion mobility (IM)-MS adds potential to separate desorbate and degradant ions by their size and shape, − thus enhancing the analytical information obtainable from mild thermal degradation experiments. − The added IM dimension enables the separation of isobaric and isomeric species and also permits determination of their collision cross-section (CCS) values, which provide a quantitative insight about their 3D size/shape.…”