Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/S19899/01
Title:	Next generation proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry: a Hadamard transform instrument
Principal Investigator:	Monks, Professor PS
Other Investigators:	Ellis, Professor A
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Chemistry
Organisation:	University of Leicester
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 September 2003	Ends:	31 August 2006	Value (£):	260,894
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Analytical Science Instrumentation Eng. & Dev.
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Environment Food and Drink Healthcare No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
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Summary on Grant Application Form
Proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) is a relatively new and highly sensitive (pptv) trace gas monitoring technique which is particularly suited to the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). It is based on proton transfer from H30+ to organic molecules in a drift tube. The high sensitivity derives from the lack of interfering signals from common air components such as N2 and 02, since these molecules have proton affinities below that of H20 and therefore cannot accept a proton. Existing PTR-MS systems employ quadrupole mass spectrometers. However, time-of-flight (TOF) systems offer several potential advantages, including rapid acquisition of the entire mass spectrum, higher mass resolution and a wider mass range. Unfortunately, these benefits are offset by the poor duty cycle in standard TOFMS, which rarely exceeds a few %, and therefore makes them far from ideal with continuous ion sources, as used in PTR-MS. We propose a novel solution to this problem, the use of a Hadamard transform TOFMS, a technology recently pioneered by Zare's group at Stanford. HT-TOFMS has a duty cycle of 50%, which is excellent for sampling a continuous ion stream. We plan to construct the first HT-PTR-TOFMS system and will characterise its performance using a variety of test systems in the laboratory and the field. This work will demonstrate the dramatic improvement in performance of HT-PTR-TOFMS over existing PTR-MS instruments and will be the stepping stone to new applications in trace gas monitoring in the environment and in industry.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.le.ac.uk