Analytical Instrument Documents

In this MSTips, thermal desorption GC/MS measurements of a commercial antibacterial lunch box product are performed and the integrated qualitative analysis results are reported using msFineAnalysis iQ.

In this MSTips, GC/MS measurements of water-based inks for commercial inkjet printers are performed, and the results of integrated qualitative analysis of the obtained measurement data using msFineAnalysis iQ are reported.

msFineAnalysis iQ uses not only library DB search but also multiple identification functions such as retention index and isotope matching, so highly accurate qualitative analysis is possible.

Polymers can be degraded by the effects of light, oxygen, heat, etc. so it is important to understand how the polymer structures change during degradation. Pyrolysis gas chromatograph quadrupole mass spectrometer (Py-GC-QMS) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MALDI-TOFMS) are powerful tools for analyzing polymeric materials. Py-GC-QMS is a method that instantaneously heats a sample with a pyrolyzer and then analyzes the pyrolysis products by GC-MS. Since most of the pyrolysis products are related to monomers and dimers, this technique allows for easy identification of the polymer substructures which is useful for identifying changes to the polymer when degradation occurs. MALDI-TOFMS involves a soft ionization technique that can directly ionize and analyze the intact polymer molecules and often produces singly-charged ions even for high molecular weight compounds. As a result, the m/z axis of the mass spectrum is equal to the mass of the ions, thus making it easy to interpret polymer distributions. Additionally, when MALDI is used with a high-resolution TOFMS, the accurate mass of each ion in the polymer series can be used to calculate their elemental compositions. Moreover, the molecular weight distribution of polymers can be calculated from the ion intensity distribution. In this work, we used Py-GC-QMS and high-resolution MALDI-TOFMS to evaluate the effects of UV irradiation on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).

The composition of volatiles from freshly ground roasted coffee is complex, with hundreds of chemical compounds contributing to the aroma. Headspace solid-phase microextraction was used to sample volatiles from five different coffees for analysis by GC-MS. Chemometric analysis revealed specific differences between coffees from different origins and different preparations.

Gas Analysis Solutions with JEOL Mass Spectrometers

JEOL has developed msFineAnalysis software that integrates both EI and soft ionization data with library search, exact mass, and isotope data.

Cocoa butter is the edible fat extracted from cocoa beans that is used in the manufacture of chocolate. Cocoa Butter Equivalents (CBE) are a substance derived from palm oil and shea butter that are used as a substitute for cocoa butter in chocolate. European regulations govern the labeling of chocolate as containing CBE less than 5%. US regulations require that Cocoa Butter Equivalents be specifically labeled with wording such as “chocolate flavored” coating. Analysis of the triglyceride content of chocolate is a quality control measure. Analysis of a standard sample of cocoa butter triglycerides is presented here as an example of the use of the JEOL Q1500 quadrupole GC-MS system for the detection of lipids separated by using a high-temperature GC column (Restek Rtx-65TG).

Thermogravimetry (TG) is used to measure weight changes of samples under programmed heat conditions. A system combining thermogravimetry/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) with mass spectrometry (MS) can be used for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of gases evolved from the TG furnace into the mass spectrometer. In this application note, we show qualitative analysis of the thermal-decomposition process for sodium formate using the “STA2500 Regulus” TG system (NETZSCH) and the gas chromatography–quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC/QMS) “JMS-Q1500GC” system (JEOL).

Silicone rubber is made from low-molecular-weight (LMW) cyclic siloxane. Most LMW cyclic siloxane is used up during the polymerization process, and the residual cyclic siloxane is removed by subsequent heating and depressurization steps. Generally, the residual level of cyclic siloxane is <3% in silicone rubber, but in the field of electronic equipment manufacturing, residual cyclic siloxane levels must be < 1% in order to avoid contact failure of relays, connectors, etc. due to gases evolved by LMW cyclic siloxane. In this application note, we show semi-quantitative analysis results of LMW cyclic siloxane in silicone rubber that was analyzed using the EGA/PY-3030D pyrolyzer (Py) (Frontier Laboratories, Ltd.) and the gas chromatography–quadrupole mass-spectrometer (GC/QMS) instrument JMS-Q1500GC (JEOL).