Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry Direct Isotope Abundance Analysis
The nuclear forensics community is currently engaged in the analysis of illicit nuclear or radioactive material for the purposes of non-proliferations and attribution. One technique commonly employed for gathering nuclear forensics information is isotope analysis. At present, the state-of-the-art methodology for obtaining isotopic distributions is thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Although TIMS is highly accurate at determining isotope distributions, the technique requires an elementally pure sample to perform the measurement. The required radiochemical separations give rise to sample preparation times that can be in excess of one to two weeks. Clearly, the nuclear forensics community is in need of instrumentation and methods that can expedite their decision making process in the event of a radiological release or nuclear detonation. Accordingly, we are developing instrumentation that couples a high resolution IM drift cell to the front end of a MS. The IM cell provides a means of separating ions based upon their collision cross-section and mass-to-charge ratio (m/z). Two analytes with the same m/z, but with different collision cross-sections (shapes) would exit the cell at different times, essentially enabling the cell to function in a similar manner to a gas chromatography (GC) column. Thus, molecular and atomic isobaric interferences can be effectively removed from the ion beam. The mobility selected chemical species could then be introduced to a MS for high-resolution mass analysis to generate isotopic distributions of the target analytes. The outcome would be an IM/MS system capable of accurately measuring isotopic distributions while concurrently eliminating isobaric interferences and laboratory radiochemical sample preparation. The overall objective of this project is developing instrumentation and methods to produce near real-time isotope distributions with a modular mass spectrometric system that performs the required gas-phase chemistry and separations. The system couples a high-resolution ion mobility (IM) drift cell to the front end of a mass spectrometer (MS) allowing for chemical separation prior to isotope distribution analyses. This will yield isotope ratio measurement capabilities with minimal sample preparation.
- Research Organization:
- National Security Technologies, LLC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC52-06NA25946
- OSTI ID:
- 992579
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NV/25946-999; TRN: US1100393
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: May 25-27, 2010; NA-22 Joint Program Review at Sandia National Laboratories - Material Production and Weaponization Detection
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ABUNDANCE
CHEMISTRY
CROSS SECTIONS
DECISION MAKING
DETECTION
DISTRIBUTION
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
ION BEAMS
ION MOBILITY
IONIZATION
ISOTOPE RATIO
MASS SPECTROMETERS
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
PRODUCTION
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RESOLUTION
SAMPLE PREPARATION
SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES
TARGETS
ion mobility spectrometry
mass spectrometry
direct isotope