Real-time detection of 1-nitronaphthalene in atmosphere by single-photon ionization mass spectrometry

Abstract

Nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs), which may be exhausted from vehicles, are known to be highly carcinogenic compounds. Quantitative measurements of 1-nitronaphthalene, which is one of the most common NPAHs, have been unsuccessful, because it readily decomposes during conventional measurements. In the present study, supersonic jet photoionization mass spectrometry with different ionization processes (REMPI, NRMPI, and VUV-SPI) was applied to monitor the generation of 1-nitronaphthalene. Also, their performances was examined regarding fragmentation-free real-time detection. It was found that, the VUV-SPI method is highly suitable for real-time and quantitative measurements of 1-nitronaphthalene without decomposition. It was proved that the time resolution taken by this method is 30 seconds. © 2012 The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry.