Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography/Multiphoton Ionization/ Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry for the Rapid and Selective Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Aerosol Particulate Matter

Gas chromatography/multiphoton ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC/MPI/TOFMS) coupled with a Curie-point pyrolyzer as a sample introduction technique was applied for the rapid and selective analysis of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are a part of aerosol particulate matter. Increasing the operating temperature of the pyrolyzer also increased the number of observed peaks, but the peak areas of a few PAHs decreased due to thermal decomposition. In the present study, more than 100 peaks were confirmed using 0.3 mg of an aerosol particulate matter, and further sensitive detection would be achievable. The advantages of MPI/TOFMS, such as optical selectivity and simultaneous determination properties, allowed the trace analysis of highly complicated particulate matter—even in the absence of pretreatment. Therefore, this method would help elucidate the origin of particulate matter when sampling from different points for short periods of time.