Using corona discharge-ion mobility spectrometry for detection of 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole

In this work possible application of the corona discharge-ion mobility spectrometer (CD-IMS) for detection of 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole (TCA) has been investigated. We applied CD-IMS interfaced with orthogonal acceleration time of flight mass spectrometer (CD-IMS-oaTOF) to study the ion processes within the CD-IMS technique. The CD-IMS instrument was operated in two modes, (i) standard and (ii) reverse flow modes resulting in different chemical ionisation schemes by NO3−(HNO3)n (n=0,1,2) and O2−(H2O)n (n=0,1,2), respectively. The O2−(H2O)n ionisation was associated with formation of Cl− and (TCA–CH3)− ions from TCA. The NO3−(HNO3)n ionisation, resulted in formation of NO3−(HNO3)(TCA–Cl) adduct ions. Limit of detection (LOD) for TCA was determined in gas (100 ppb) and solid phases (150 ng).