Influence of acquisition rate on performance of fast comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry for coconut fiber bio-oil characterization

Abstract

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC/TOFMS) is used to characterize complex bio-oil samples because of the high peak capacity associated with the high acquisition rate and mass spectra deconvolution capability of TOFMS. A recent application of fast GC × GC for this type of analysis improved sample throughput while achieving the same peak capacity without the use of cryogenic liquids. This work evaluates the effect of the TOFMS data acquisition rate on the quality of the analytical information obtained by GC × GC/TOFMS. In the analysis of coconut fiber bio-oil under fast GC × GC/TOFMS conditions, use of high data acquisition rates (200–300 Hz) increases the number of identifiable peaks by more than 50% compared with that achieved at the conventional rate of 100 Hz. The acquisition rate can affect the peak capacity by a factor of 3 or more. This is the first study to demonstrate the importance of optimizing the data acquisition rate, a parameter that has previously been neglected in the literature, in GC × GC/TOFMS development.