TGA-MS continued
and left valuable metals—including lead and zinc—in the residue that could be recovered. TGA-MS showed that this process can produce gases that could be used as sources of energy.3
Dealing with the data
Just collecting the data doesn’t ensure the best analysis. “You need libraries to interpret the data,” Menard says. “You need to use search programs and libraries, which have gotten very good.”
Very good, yes, but not entirely automatic. “The result doesn’t say, ‘The atomic mass ion is 180 and the molecule is x,” Menard says. Instead, the MS could detect a mass of 180 that can’t be identified definitively by the ion mass alone. “Then, we try to identify it by the fragments and fragmentation patterns, and, depending on how many materials are in the evolved gas, it can get very complicated.” Menard continued, “We run analysis to get the best fit, but if five materials come out the same with 99% probability, you need some skill to decide what is what. … One of the reasons folks move to TG-GC-MS is that the GC separation makes the MS part simpler.”
So, even with advanced search algorithms and libraries, using TGA-MS requires a skilled scientist to accurately analyze a material. With the right equipment, software, and operator, this technology can reveal the characteristics of many materials and processes.
References 1. García-Garrido, C.; Sánchez-Jiménez, P.E. et al. Combined TGA-MS
kinetic analysis of multistep processes. Thermal decomposition and ceramification of polysilazane and polysiloxane preceramic polymers. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2016, 18, 29, 348–60.
2. Özsin, G. and Pütün, A.E. Kinetics and evolved gas analysis for pyrolysis of food processing wastes using TGA/MS/FT-IR. Waste Manag. 2017; doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2017.03.020.
3. Al-Harahsheh, M.; Al-Otoom, A. et al. Pyrolysis of poly(vinyl chloride) and electric arc furnace dust mixtures. J. Hazard. Mater. 2015; doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2015.06.041.
Mike May is a freelance writer and editor living in Florida. He can be reached at
mikemay1959@gmail.com.
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