Flowing-afterglow mass spectrometry

[1] These ions react in multiple collisions with water molecules, their isotopic compositions reach equilibrium and the relative magnitudes of their isotopomers are measured by mass spectrometry.

This study was done by Eldon Ferguson, Art Schmeltekopf and Fred Fehsenfeld at National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado.

The ambipolar plasma is sampled using a nosecone and detected using conventional quadrupole or tandem mass spectrometry, depending on the application.

[9] The flowing afterglow technique can be used to identify and quantify the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of a sample as long as the fundamental ion chemistry is known.

Strategies that have been employed to identify the VOCs include using gas chromatography coupled with flowing afterglow and using a complement of reagent ions.