Analysis of Photoablation Products Resulting from Polymer Materials by Supersonic Beam/Multiphoton Ionization/Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Photoablation products arising from polymer materials were examined by supersonic beam spectrometry, and the results are compared with those obtained by thermal decomposition. The high selectivity provided by supersonic beam spectrometry allows detection of minor species, e.g., styrene occurred from poly(α-methylstyrene) by cleavage of a methyl group and by proton rearrangement. Because ablation techniques involve high temperatures, thermally stable materials such as poly(p-methylstyrene) can be examined. The latter material is difficult to examine by thermal decomposition, even at 350 °C. It is also possible to differentiate between isomer ablation products, e.g., α-methylstyrene and p-methylstyrene. The instrumental setup described herein was used to examine several authentic samples, such as ABS resin (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) and O-ring (SBR, styrene-butadiene rubber), as well as polystyrene foam. As a result, a styrene segment could be confirmed to be present in these materials. However, no evidence was found for its presence in a glue sample that was suspected to contain styrene on the basis of conventional mass spectrometry. The latter finding confirms the high degree of selectivity of the technique.

Glycine in 1‐Butyl‐3‐Methylimidazolium Acetate and Trifluoroacetate Ionic Liquids: Effect of Fluorination and Hydrogen Bonding

“…It is also reasonable to expect that the composition of the plume may reflect the effects of the interaction with the strong radiation field and of the energetic collisions within it between a large number of neutral and ionic fragments, highly activated (hot) clusters, etc. In fact, the molecular ionic species observed in our spectra do not contain the styrene monomer, which is the main product of polystyrene ablation under milder ablation conditions,33–36 presenting instead a wealth of small hydrocarbon fragments. These small fragments have been previously observed by multiphoton ionization mass spectrometry, and attributed to thermal decomposition of polystyrene 35, 36…”

A Quantitative Analysis of an Oil Component in an Emulsion by Multiphoton Ionization Mass Spectrometry

“…Solid samples can also be measured using laser desorption/ abrasion as a sample introduction technique. 28,29 In contrast, we developed a sample introduction technique for measuring of an emulsion, namely a liquid sample. This system consists of a pair of concentric capillary columns.…”

Critical assessment: Use of supersonic jet spectrometry for complex mixture analysis (IUPAC Technical Report)

“…It is also possible to decompose polymers by laser ablation. Because this technique involves high temperature, thermally stable materials such as poly(p-methylstyrene), which is difficult to examine by thermal decomposition, even at 350 °C, can be examined [49]. The high selectivity provided by supersonic jet spectrometry allows the detection of minor species, e.g., styrene arising from poly(α-methylstyrene) by cleavage of the methyl group and by proton rearrangement.…”