Dynamic Headspace Concentration - Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectroscopy (DHC-GC-MS)

DHC-GC-MS is used to identify and quantify volatile and semi-volatile components in materials such as plastics, rubber, coatings, composites, lubricants, adhesives, cleaning chemicals, fragrances, cosmetics, and environmental samples.

Scope: DHC-GC-MS is particularly useful for analysis of materials that cannot be directly injected into the GC-MS system. Prior to analysis, the sample is placed in a 20mL glass vial with inert septum and heated (up to 300 ˚C). The vial is purged with a stream of helium which carries volatized compounds to a thermal desorption trap. Once the sample has been completely purged the trap is heated, sending the trapped compounds to the Gas Chromatograph for separation and Mass Spectrometer for analysis.

Equipment: FAI uses a Tekmar HT-3 Dynamic Headspace Concentration Autosampler which can robotically process up to 60 samples unattended. The GC-MS duties are performed by an HP/Agilent 5890 Series II Plus Gas Chromatograph with an HP 5989B Mass Engine Mass Spectrometer running on Windows XP. This mass spectrometer can collect positive or negative ions, run either electron impact or chemical ionization and can scan up to 1000 Daltons molecular weight or perform Selected Ion Monitoring (SIM) analysis.