A Novel Mass Spectrometer for Direct Mixture Analysis

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目是在质谱子领域的仪器开发的一般领域。气相色谱与质谱（GC/MS）的结合为复杂混合物的敏感表征提供了最好的通用分析仪器。它被用于科学和技术领域。在大多数情况下，气相色谱仪在质谱仪分析之前将起始混合物分离成其组成化合物。分离步骤是分析中最耗时的部分，通常需要一个小时，而每种成分的质量分析在一秒钟或更短的时间内完成。该项目为混合物的直接质谱分析提供了一种方法，并通过减少色谱分离程度来加快整体分析时间。研究人员使用了一种新的电离调制方案，增加了从质谱仪获得的化学有用信息的数量。该系统是自动化的，并支持计算机反卷积所产生的二维光谱。第一阶段计划通过最大化数据采集速率（同时在大动态范围内保持良好的信噪比），确定灵敏度限制，确定最佳电子能量分辨率和选择计算机化数据简化的最佳算法来解决仪器设计的优化问题。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 project is in the general area of instrumentation development in the subfield of mass spectrometry. The combination of gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) provides the best general purpose analytical instrument for sensitive characterization of complex mixtures. It is used in fields of science and technology. In most cases, the gas chromatograph separates the starting mixture into its constituent compounds prior to analysis by the mass spectrometer. The separation step is the most time-consuming part of the analysis, often taking an hour, while mass analysis for each constituent is complete in a second or less. This project provides a method for the direct mass spectroscopic analysis of mixtures and can speed overall analysis time by reducing the degree of chromatographic separation. The investigators use a novel ionization modulation scheme that increases the amount of chemically useful information obtained from a mass spectrometer. The system is automated and supports computerized deconvolution of the resultant two-dimensional spectra. The Phase I program addresses optimization of the instrument design by maximizing the data acquisition rate (while maintaining good signal-to-noise ratios over a large dynamic range), determining the limits to sensitivity, determining the optimum electron energy resolution and selecting the best algorithm for computerized data reduction.