In situ quantitative analysis by ultrasonic extraction and nebulization combined with hydrogen flame ionization mass spectrometry: Diisopropylnaphthalene (DIPN), a marker of recycled paper in packing materials

Abstract

Ambient mass spectrometry is used for direct analysis and high-throughput screening in many fields. However, most researches are about qualitative analysis. Quantitative detection based on AMS only performs on standard compounds and the relative standard deviation is so large that the accuracy of the result is low. In this study, a hydrogen flame ion source with ultrasonic nebulizer as sampling unit was established to enable solid samples to extract, nebulize and quantitatively detect in situ, with high sensitivity. This device was used to quantificationally determine the content of diisopropylnaphthalene (DIPN) in food packaging paper to identify recycled paper. Rapid analysis was performed in situ without complex pretreatment and the whole analysis time was less than 10 min. It's environmentally friendly that only 100 mg (or less) of sample and no more than 1 mL of solvent are required for one test. The external standard method was used for quantitative determination. The limit of detection was measured to be as low as 0.01 ng mL−1 and the linear dynamic range was 0.03–0.60 μg mL−1 in positive multiple reactions monitoring mode. It has been successfully applied to detect actual samples and the content of DIPN was 0.020–0.095 mg kg−1.