Coupling of a gas chromatograph to a simultaneous-detection inductively coupled plasma mass spectrograph for speciation of organohalide and organometallic compounds

Abstract

A gas chromatograph (GC) has been coupled to an inductively coupled plasma Mattauch–Herzog geometry mass spectrograph (ICP-MHMS) equipped with a novel detector array. In its current state of development the detector array, termed the focal plane camera (FPC), permits the simultaneous monitoring of up to 15 m/z values. A heated line was used to transfer the capillary-column effluent from the GC to the ICP torch, though due to instrument operating conditions, the transfer line was terminated 50 mm ahead of the ICP torch. Minimal tailing was observed, with the most severe effect seen for high-boiling analytes. With this coupling, absolute limits of detection are in the tens to hundreds of femtogram regime for organometallic species and in the single picogram regime for halogenated hydrocarbons.