TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of portable mass spectrometer with electron cyclotron resonance ion source for detection of chemical warfare agents in air
AU - Urabe, Tatsuya
AU - Takahashi, Kazuya
AU - Kitagawa, Michiko
AU - Sato, Takafumi
AU - Kondo, Tomohide
AU - Enomoto, Shuichi
AU - Kidera, Masanori
AU - Seto, Yasuo
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was partly undertaken under the R&D Program for Implementation of Anti-Crime and anti-Terrorism Technologies for a Safe and Secure Society, funds for Integrated Promotion of Social System Reform and Research and Development, supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. This study was also supported by a grant-in-aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI: 24340139) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - A portable mass spectrometer with an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (miniECRIS-MS) was developed. It was used for in situ monitoring of trace amounts of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) in atmospheric air. Instrumental construction and parameters were optimized to realize a fast response, high sensitivity, and a small body size. Three types of CWAs, i.e., phosgene, mustard gas, and hydrogen cyanide were examined to check if the mass spectrometer was able to detect characteristic elements and atomic groups. From the results, it was found that CWAs were effectively ionized in the miniECRIS-MS, and their specific signals could be discerned over the background signals of air. In phosgene, the signals of the 35Cl+ and 37Cl+ ions were clearly observed with high dose-response relationships in the parts-per-billion level, which could lead to the quantitative on-site analysis of CWAs. A parts-per-million level of mustard gas, which was far lower than its lethal dosage (LCt50), was successfully detected with a high signal-stability of the plasma ion source. It was also found that the chemical forms of CWAs ionized in the plasma, i.e., monoatomic ions, fragment ions, and molecular ions, could be detected, thereby enabling the effective identification of the target CWAs. Despite the disadvantages associated with miniaturization, the overall performance (sensitivity and response time) of the miniECRIS-MS in detecting CWAs exceeded those of sector-type ECRIS-MS, showing its potential for on-site detection in the future.
AB - A portable mass spectrometer with an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (miniECRIS-MS) was developed. It was used for in situ monitoring of trace amounts of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) in atmospheric air. Instrumental construction and parameters were optimized to realize a fast response, high sensitivity, and a small body size. Three types of CWAs, i.e., phosgene, mustard gas, and hydrogen cyanide were examined to check if the mass spectrometer was able to detect characteristic elements and atomic groups. From the results, it was found that CWAs were effectively ionized in the miniECRIS-MS, and their specific signals could be discerned over the background signals of air. In phosgene, the signals of the 35Cl+ and 37Cl+ ions were clearly observed with high dose-response relationships in the parts-per-billion level, which could lead to the quantitative on-site analysis of CWAs. A parts-per-million level of mustard gas, which was far lower than its lethal dosage (LCt50), was successfully detected with a high signal-stability of the plasma ion source. It was also found that the chemical forms of CWAs ionized in the plasma, i.e., monoatomic ions, fragment ions, and molecular ions, could be detected, thereby enabling the effective identification of the target CWAs. Despite the disadvantages associated with miniaturization, the overall performance (sensitivity and response time) of the miniECRIS-MS in detecting CWAs exceeded those of sector-type ECRIS-MS, showing its potential for on-site detection in the future.
KW - Chemical warfare agents
KW - Counter-terrorism
KW - Electron cyclotron resonance ion source
KW - In situ monitoring
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U2 - 10.1016/j.saa.2013.10.041
DO - 10.1016/j.saa.2013.10.041
M3 - Article
C2 - 24211802
AN - SCOPUS:84887071463
VL - 120
SP - 437
EP - 444
JO - Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy
JF - Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy
SN - 1386-1425
ER -