CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYURETHANE FORMULATIONS BY DIRECT PROBE ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE CHEMICAL IONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETRY

Complex, commercially available polyurethane polymers were heated at slowly increasing temperatures on a direct probe (DP) inserted into an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) source of a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer. Slow heating of the probe allowed for temporal separation of the thermally desorbed components (such as additives) and thermal degradation products, based on their volatilities and bond stabilities. In situ analysis of the released desorption products and pyrolyzates was accomplished by APCI mass spectrometry. DP-APCI enabled the characterization of polyurethanes that cannot be analyzed directly by mass spectrometry. Distinctions could be made between polymer formulations with variable physical properties due to their different blends.