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Written Artefact Profiling Guide
Written ArtefactProfiling Guide

Photo: CSMC

Written Artefact Profiling Guide

Mass Spectrometer; Xevo G2-XS QTof with ASAP Source, Waters

This mass spectrometer uses a heated nitrogen desolvation gas to vaporise the sample and a corona discharge needle to induce ionisation. It is equipped with a high-performance quadrupole analyser whose parameters can be programmed with respect to certain mass values. It features a collision cell to induce fragmentation of selected ions and an orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight analyser with a maximum mass range of m/z 100.000 and a resolving power of 40.000 FWHM (Full Width at Half Maximum). It is used for the analysis of volatile organic compounds. The instrument is equipped with an electrospray ionisation (ESI) source and an atmospheric solids analysis probe (ASAP) source. Although the equipment is stationary, samples can be collected on-site with glass capillaries (hollow glass rods of c.2 mm diameter) and transported to the laboratory, where they can be placed in the ASAP source of the instrument for analysis. The micro-sampling technique consists in gently rubbing the glass capillary on the material of interest. No visible amount of sample needs to be deposited on the rod which is then inserted into the chamber of the spectrometer. This particular sampling technique allows for the identification of compounds present on the surface of the object without the need of depositing the samples in matrix or a need for a series of extraction steps. The mass spectra resulting from this analysis can be exported as .txt files and converted to images.

  • General description: ESI-MS System with a qTOF analyzer and ASAP source
  • Application aim: identification of organic compounds
  • Mobility: stationary analysis, mobile sampling for ASAP source
  • Equipment specifics:
    • can be operated with ASAP source
  • Application requirements: air-conditioned environment with argon and nitrogen supply
  • Sample required: yes
  • Contact required: yes
  • Interaction spot dimensions: depends
  • Average time for measuring: depends on the method, the research issue and the sample between 1 minute and several hours
  • Average time for processing: 1-4 hours
  • Software package: MassLynxTM
  • Output: .txt files
  • Contact: Sebastian Bosch, sebastian.bosch"AT"uni-hamburg.de
  • Location of the equipment: Mineralogisch-Petrographisches Institut, MPI, (Grindelallee 48, Hamburg)