Single Photon Ionization Orthogonal Acceleration Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry and Resonance Enhanced Multiphoton Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry for Evolved Gas Analysis in Thermogravimetry: Comparative Analysis of Crude Oils

Recycling of fiber reinforced composites: Online mass spectrometric tracing, offline physicochemical speciation and toxicological evaluation of a pilot plant pyrolytic conversion

The increasing demand for lightweight materials with exceptional stability and durability has resulted in a significant rise in fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) production. These materials find applications in various fields. However, the exceptional properties and diverse compositional range of FRPs pose challenges to conventional recycling strategies. Pyrolysis has emerged as a highly promising approach for separating the fibers from the polymer matrix. In this study, we employed thermal analysis coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry to investigate the pyrolysis process. Representative FRP showed a starting decomposition temperature of 300 °C and bisphenol A, styrene, alkenes, and phenols could be identified. The identified parameters were used to operate a pilot plant with a capacity of up to 50 kg/h FRP, and reactor products were directly analyzed with soft photoionization mass spectrometry. The findings demonstrated good agreement between the pilot plant results and laboratory experiments, particularly for smaller compounds (m/z<200). The non-condensable fraction showed a range of 17 to 22 MJ/m3 as lower heating value. Analysis of the recovered fibers (diameter between 6.20 and 8.05 μm) revealed residual coke, but no toxic fibers were detected, according to the World Health Organization's definition. Yet, the organic coating of the fibers contained small amounts of potentially harmful PAHs. A toxicological assessment using a multicellular in vitro model confirmed the low hazardous potential of the recovered fibers. The findings contribute to developing sustainable and environmentally friendly recycling strategies for FRP while addressing important aspects related to the safety and toxicological implications of the resulting chemicals and fibers.

Characterization of Polyethylene Branching by Thermal Analysis-Photoionization Mass Spectrometry

The rising demand for more and more specialized polyethylene represents a challenge for synthesis and analysis. The desired properties are dependent on the structure, but its elucidation is still intricate. For this purpose, we applied thermal analysis hyphenated to single photon ionization mass spectrometry (STA-SPI-MS). The melting and pyrolysis behavior of different types of polyethylene were tracked by DSC and mass loss. Crystallinity and melting point give hints about the branching but are also influenced by the molecular weight distribution. The evolving gas analysis patterns obtained by SPI-MS however, contain specific molecular information about the samples. Shifts in the summed spectra, which can be clearly observed with our technique, result from differently favored degradation reactions due to the respective structure. Pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry (Py-GC-EI-MS) was used to support the assignment of pyrolysis products. Principal component analysis was successfully applied to reduce the complexity of data and find suitable markers. The obtained grouping is based on the molecular fingerprint of the samples and is strongly influenced by short-chain branching. Short and medium alkenes and dienes have the strongest impact on the first four principal components. Thus, two marker ratios could be defined, which also give a comprehensible and robust grouping. Butene and pentene were the most abundant signals in our set of samples. With STA-PI-MS, a broad range of pyrolysis products can be measured at the same time, possibly extending the range for quantifiable short-chain branches to more than six carbon atoms for PE. Unfortunately, no clear trend between long-chain branching and any grouping was observed. The quite universal and soft single photon ionization enables access to many different compound classes and hence other polymers can be studied.

Molecular Characterization of Volatiles and Petrochemical Base Oils by Photo-Ionization GC×GC-TOF-MS

The characterization of organic mixtures by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) coupled to electron impact (EI) ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) allows the detection of thousands of compounds. However, owing to the exhaustive fragmentation following EI ionization, despite the use of mass spectral libraries, a majority of the compounds remains unidentified because of the lack of parent ion preservation. Thus, soft-ionization energies leading to organic compounds being ionized with limited or no fragmentation, retaining the molecular ion, has been of interest for many years. In this study, photoionization (PI) was evaluated as the ion source for GC×GC-TOF-MS measurements. First, capabilities and limitations of PI were tested using an authentic mixture of compounds of several chemical classes. Ionization energy exhibited by PI, equivalent to 10.8 eV, resulted in significant retention of molecular ion information; [M]^+• for alkanes, ketones, FAMEs, aromatics, [M-H]^+• for chloroalkanes, and [M-H₂O]^+• for alcohols. Second, considering the potential of PI for hydrocarbons, base oils, complex mixtures of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons blended for finished lubricant formulations, were extensively evaluated. Several chemical classes of hydrocarbons were positively identified including a large number of isomeric compounds, both aliphatics and cyclics. Interestingly, branched-alkanes were ionized with lower excess internal energy, not only retaining the molecular ions but also exhibiting unique fragmentation patterns. The results presented herein offer a unique perspective into the detailed molecular characterization of base oils. Such unprecedented identification power of PI coupled with GC×GC-TOF-MS is the first report covering volatiles to low-volatile organic mixtures.

Hyphenation of Thermal Analysis to Ultrahigh-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry) Using Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization For Studying Composition and Thermal Degradation of Complex Materials

In this study, the hyphenation of a thermobalance to an ultrahigh-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (UHR FTICR MS) is presented. Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) is used for efficient ionization. The evolved gas analysis (EGA), using high-resolution mass spectrometry allows the time-resolved molecular characterization of thermally induced processes in complex materials or mixtures, such as biomass or crude oil. The most crucial part of the setup is the hyphenation between the thermobalance and the APCI source. Evolved gases are forced to enter the atmospheric pressure ionization interface of the MS by applying a slight overpressure at the thermobalance side of the hyphenation. Using the FTICR exact mass data, detailed chemical information is gained by calculation of elemental compositions from the organic species, enabling a time and temperature resolved, highly selective detection of the evolved species. An additional selectivity is gained by the APCI ionization, which is particularly sensitive toward polar compounds. This selectivity on the one hand misses bulk components of petroleum samples such as alkanes and does not deliver a comprehensive view but on the other hand focuses particularly on typical evolved components from biomass samples. As proof of principle, the thermal behavior of different fossil fuels: heavy fuel oil, light fuel oil, and a crude oil, and different lignocellulosic biomass, namely, beech, birch, spruce, ash, oak, and pine as well as commercial available softwood and birch-bark pellets were investigated. The results clearly show the capability to distinguish between certain wood types through their molecular patterns and compound classes. Additionally, typical literature known pyrolysis biomass marker were confirmed by their elemental composition, such as coniferyl aldehyde (C10H10O3), sinapyl aldehyde (C11H12O4), retene (C18H18), and abietic acid (C20H30O2).

Application of pyrolysis-mass spectrometry and pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with electron-ionization or resonance-enhanced-multi-photon ionization for characterization of crude oils

A novel analytical system for gas-chromatographic investigation of complex samples has been developed, that combines the advantages of several analytical principles to enhance the analytical information. Decomposition of high molecular weight structures is achieved by pyrolysis and a high separation capacity due to the chromatographic step provides both an universal as well as a selective and sensitive substance detection. The latter is achieved by simultaneously applying electron ionization quadrupole mass spectrometry (EI-QMS) for structural elucidation and [1+1]-resonance-enhanced-multi-photon ionization (REMPI) combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ToFMS). The system has been evaluated and tested with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) standards. It was applied to crude oil samples for the first time. In such highly complex samples several thousands of compounds are present and the identification especially of low concentrated chemical species such as PAH or their polycyclic aromatic sulfur containing heterocyclic (PASH) derivatives is often difficult. Detection of unalkylated and alkylated PAH together with PASH is considerably enhanced by REMPI-ToFMS, at times revealing aromatic structures which are not observable by EI-QMS due to their low abundance. On the other hand, the databased structure proposals of the EI-QMS analysis are needed to confirm structural information and isomers distinction. The technique allows a complex structure analysis as well as selective assessment of aromatic substances in one measurement. Information about the content of sulfur containing compounds plays a significant role for the increase of efficiency in the processing of petroleum.

Heterogeneous OH oxidation of motor oil particles causes selective depletion of branched and less cyclic hydrocarbons

Motor oil serves as a useful model system for atmospheric oxidation of hydrocarbon mixtures typical of anthropogenic atmospheric particulate matter, but its complexity often prevents comprehensive chemical speciation. In this work we fully characterize this formerly "unresolved complex mixture" at the molecular level using recently developed soft ionization gas chromatography techniques. Nucleated motor oil particles are oxidized in a flow tube reactor to investigate the relative reaction rates of observed hydrocarbon classes: alkanes, cycloalkanes, bicycloalkanes, tricycloalkanes, and steranes. Oxidation of hydrocarbons in a complex aerosol is found to be efficient, with approximately three-quarters (0.72 ± 0.06) of OH collisions yielding a reaction. Reaction rates of individual hydrocarbons are structurally dependent: compared to normal alkanes, reaction rates increased by 20-50% with branching, while rates decreased ∼20% per nonaromatic ring present. These differences in rates are expected to alter particle composition as a function of oxidation, with depletion of branched and enrichment of cyclic hydrocarbons. Due to this expected shift toward ring-opening reactions heterogeneous oxidation of the unreacted hydrocarbon mixture is less likely to proceed through fragmentation pathways in more oxidized particles. Based on the observed oxidation-induced changes in composition, isomer-resolved analysis has potential utility for determining the photochemical age of atmospheric particulate matter with respect to heterogeneous oxidation.

Online monitoring of coffee roasting by proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS): towards a real-time process control for a consistent roast profile

A real-time automated process control tool for coffee roasting is presented to consistently and accurately achieve a targeted roast degree. It is based on the online monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the off-gas of a drum roaster by proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry at a high time (1 Hz) and mass resolution (5,500 m/Δm at full width at half-maximum) and high sensitivity (better than parts per billion by volume). Forty-two roasting experiments were performed with the drum roaster being operated either on a low, medium or high hot-air inlet temperature (= energy input) and the coffee (Arabica from Antigua, Guatemala) being roasted to low, medium or dark roast degrees. A principal component analysis (PCA) discriminated, for each one of the three hot-air inlet temperatures, the roast degree with a resolution of better than ±1 Colorette. The 3D space of the three first principal components was defined based on 23 mass spectral profiles of VOCs and their roast degree at the end point of roasting. This provided a very detailed picture of the evolution of the roasting process and allowed establishment of a predictive model that projects the online-monitored VOC profile of the roaster off-gas in real time onto the PCA space defined by the calibration process and, ultimately, to control the coffee roasting process so as to achieve a target roast degree and a consistent roasting.