Analysis of Thermoplastic Copolymers by Mild Thermal Degradation Coupled to Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry

Thermal desorption/degradation with an atmospheric solids analysis probe (ASAP) and ion mobility (IM) separation are coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) analysis and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) fragmentation to characterize thermoplastic elastomers. The compounds investigated, which are used in the manufacture of a wide variety of packaging materials, are mainly composed of thermoplastic copolymers, but also contain additional chemicals ("additives"), like antioxidants and UV stabilizers, for enhancement of their properties or protection from degradation. The traditional method for analyzing such complex mixtures is vacuum pyrolysis followed by electron or chemical ionization mass spectrometry, often after gas chromatography separation. Here, an alternative, faster approach, involving mild degradation at atmospheric pressure (ASAP) and subsequent characterization of the desorbates and pyrolyzates by IM-MS, and if needed, MS/MS is presented. Such multidimensional dispersion considerably simplifies the resulting spectra, permitting the conclusive separation, characterization, and classification of the multicomponent materials examined.