Differential analysis of UV degradaed polyethylene terephthalate using JMS-S3000 “SpiralTOF™-plus2.0” and “msRepeatFinder”
Introduction
Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) is a powerful tool in the analysis of polymers. Since MALDI mainly generates singly-charged ions, the m/z in the mass spectrum is the mass of the polymer ion. Using high mass resolution MALDI-TOFMS makes it easy to distinguish polymer series by the composition of repeating units and end-groups and calculate each series's molecular weight distribution. Recently, the Kendrick Mass Defect (KMD) method has made it possible to easily visualize the polymer series in complex high mass resolution mass spectra. The end groups of polymers are degraded by exposure to heat or light or by treatment with acids or alkalis. In this application note, we report an application of the differential analysis function implemented in msRepeatFinder to the end-group analysis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which has been degraded by UV irradiation.