Volatile organic compound analysis by pulsed glow discharge time of flight mass spectrometry as a structural elucidation tool.

Pulsed glow discharge (PGD) coupled to time of flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) has been investigated for volatile organic compound (VOC) identification and determination. Optimization of PGD operational conditions (chamber design, applied power, pressure and duty cycle) was performed using acetone and benzene as model compounds. During the different optimizations, molecular, fragment and elemental information were obtained when characteristic GD pulse regions were measured.