Abstract
The time-resolved signal generated from membrane introduction mass spectrometry (MIMS) has been modeled in cylindrical coordinates to analyze the data from MIMS experiments, in which a capillary hollow fiber selectively passes a low molar mass analyte dissolved in an aqueous solution to a mass spectrometer. Two approximate solutions are developed to Fick's second law for a step change in upstream concentration. The first, found by a finite Fourier transform, gives an accurate description of the MIMS signal at relatively long times while the second, found via Laplace transform, gives an accurate description at short times. Together with the steady-state solution, the results allow straightforward determination from data of the analyte's diffusivity in the membrane as well as the analyte partition coefficient between the upstream solution and the membrane. Analysis of data for trace levels of toluene in aqueous solution passed through a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) hollow fiber yields the diffusion coefficient, partition coefficient, and their temperature dependences for the toluene/PDMS system.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 81-91 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Membrane Science |
Volume | 325 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 15 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors wish to thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for funding this research under the Discovery Grant (C.G. & E.K.) and Undergraduate Student Research Award (M.L. & D.vP.) programs as well as the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, the Science Council of British Columbia, and Malaspina University-College for infrastructure funding to establish the Applied Environmental Research Laboratories. D.J. and C.D. thank the National Science Foundation for funding through the IGERT Program for the Study of Multiscale Phenomena in Soft Materials.
Keywords
- Capillary hollow fiber membrane
- Diffusion coefficient
- Membrane introduction mass spectrometry
- Partition coefficient
- Toluene/polydimethylsiloxane