GC/MSfor Combustion and Pyrolysis Research

Abstract

The ability to determine combustion and thermal decomposition (pyrolysis) products at trace concentrations can lead to important information on catalytic pathways, the degradation process itself, and structural (fingerprint) information on the parent molecule(s), among others. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is well suited to separate and identify the volatile molecules and molecular fragments generated by combustion and pyrolysis processes. Whereas, pyrolysis (conducted in an inert atmosphere) is often used as a sample introduction device directly coupled to GC/MS, combustion is generally carried out offline and its products are collected and analyzed with GC/MS, or even pyrolysis‐GC/MS. In the past few years, this powerful technique has been used to examine a variety of sample types for quite diverse applications. This chapter describes the state of the art and the progress of GC/MS for the measurement of combustion and pyrolysis products. An introduction to the technique, including the principles of GC/MS, is first provided, followed by a demonstration of the instrument's capabilities for combustion and pyrolysis research. All reports discussed herein were selected in part to demonstrate the diversity of current combustion and pyrolysis research using GC/MS. The present authors' studies with temperature‐programmed desorption in conjunction with GC/MS to characterize oxygen shuttling on the chars derived from different gaseous environment, are highlighted. Finally, the use of GC/MS in combination with isotope‐labeling techniques to reveal complex reaction pathways and mechanisms is discussed.