Direct and Rapid Determination of Ammonia in Water Samples Using Ultraviolet Photoionization High Field-Asymmetric Waveform Ion Mobility Spectrometry

Abstract

A novel on-site rapid detection method for ammonia detection in water was developed by using ultraviolet photoionization high field-asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (UV-FAIMS). The position of ammonia characteristic ion peak was acquired by the comparison between the characteristic compensation voltage (CV) in standard ammonia sample and trace amount ammonia in water. The relation between the positions of ammonia characteristic ion peaks under different dispersion voltages (DV) was studied. The values of alpha(2) , alpha(4) were 2.21 x 10(-5) Td(-2) and -1.45323 x 10(-9) Td(-4), respectively. The different concentrations of ammonia in water was measured with a limit of detection (LOD) of 9.2 mu g/L (S/N=3). This study provided a rapid, non-pretreatment means for the detection of ammonia in water matrices.