Abstract—Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) is a well known
technique for the detection of trace gases in ambient air.
Portability due to its small size, high sensitivity in the ppbv
range combined with fast response times of a few seconds make
IMS devices the preferred detectors for hazardous substances.
These range from drugs and explosives over pollutants in e.g.
industrial plants to chemical warfare agents. The analytes are
ionized by positve and negative reactant ions which have been
produced in ambient air with help of free electrons. Certain
analytes are then present as positive ions, others as negative ions,
depending on their chemical properties. While pollutants
forming positive ions in the device have been intensitvely
investigated in the last 20 years, the investigation for pollutant
ions detected in the negative mode has concentrated mainly on
the detection of explosives. This paper describes the
characteristics of analytes in the negative mode of an IMS
device when detected with a novel pulsed ion mobility
spectrometer.
Index Terms—Cluster formation in ambient air, ion mobility
spectometry, pulsed electron beams
Frank Gunzer is with the Information Engineering and Technology
Faculty, German University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt 11853 (e-mail:
frank.gunzer@guc.edu.eg).
[PDF]
Cite:Frank Gunzer, "Detection of Organic Pollutants with a Pulsed Ion Mobility Spectrometer," Journal of Clean Energy Technologies vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 300-303, 2013.