A Thermal Desorption Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer for the In Situ Measurement of Aerosol Organic Compounds

Organic material has been observed to comprise a significant fraction of organic aerosol mass in many regions of the troposphere. The organic compounds that comprise the organic fraction of atmospheric aerosol have the potential to affect the radiative and microphysical properties of the aerosol, with concomitant impacts on the role of the aerosol in climate forcing through direct and indirect effects. Knowledge of the organic compounds in atmospheric aerosols and their spatial distribution is needed to determine their effect on aerosol properties as well as to elucidate the role of aerosols in the chemistry of the atmosphere. The speciated measurement of aerosol organic compounds poses a significant experimental challenge due to the complexity and large number of organic species, and the low concentration at which individual species are present. A prototype instrument has been designed and built to make in situ speciated measurements of aerosol organic compounds. The instrument is composed of an aerosol collection/thermal desorption inlet coupled to a custom chemical ionization ion trap mass spectrometer. Aerosols are collected over a variable time by impaction on a target stage. The stage is then rapidly heated to volatilize the organic compounds into a small flow of helium carrier gas and conveyed to an ion-molecule reaction drift tube where proton transfer from H3O+ is used to softly ionize organic species. The ionized analyte molecules are then trapped and mass analyzed using a quadrupole ion trap. Results from preliminary experiments using laboratory-generated aerosol will be discussed