Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Identification of RNA Fragments Resulting from Enzymatic Degradation using MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry
Published on: April 11, 2022
Identification and Quantification of Everyday-Life Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)-Based Plastics by Combining Mild
Bayan Almasri1,2, Christian Rolando1,3
1Univ. Lille, CNRS, UAR 3290, MSAP, Miniaturisation pour la Synthèse l'Analyse et la Protéomique, Lille 59000, France.
Abstract:
Polyethylene terephthalate polyesters (PETs), formed of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol units, are some of the most commonly found polymers in plastics in our daily life and environment. PET is used as a generic term for plastics containing a majority of polyethylene terephthalate polyesters but also encompasses blends with terephthalate polyesters with different diols. Everyday-life PET-based plastics are becoming more complex through the use of virgin PET in blends with recycled PET plastics. Furthermore, the molecular complexity of PET-based plastics is increased by weathering or microorganisms' degradation. So, the identification of the precise PET-based plastics' composition and their structural modifications is still very challenging. They are principally identified by optical spectroscopy and Py-GC-MS. Unfortunately, these techniques are not efficient for identifying and quantifying PET at the molecular level, and they provide very little structural information on their modifications. In this work, PET was depolymerized under soft conditions and analyzed by complementary mass spectrometry approaches. After presolubilization with 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP), a direct transamidation using N,N-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine (DMAPA) at lower temperatures was performed to break ester bonds and improve MS ionization, allowing the detection of acids and aromatic di- and poly acids. The resulting products were analyzed by ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry using MALDI ionization on a 9.4 T FTICR MS and ESI ionization on an Orbitrap MS hyphenated to liquid chromatography. Daily-life PET samples from different countries, brands, and contents were studied, and their depolymerized products were identified and quantified. A specific fingerprint for each sample was attributed. Dimers, oligomers, scission products, oxygenated species, cross-linking structures, and additives were successfully identified with high accuracy and resolution. This strategy can be applied to other polyesters and copolyesters.
Related Concept Videos
Electrospray Ionization (ESI) Mass Spectrometry
ESI utilizes electrical energy to transfer ions from the liquid phase of the sample into the...
MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry
Chemical Ionization (CI) Mass Spectrometry
Peptide Identification Using Tandem Mass Spectrometry
This technique helps gather information regarding the protein from which the peptide was obtained and to study the peptides’ amino acid sequence. Identifying peptides from a complex mixture is an important component of the growing field of...
Mass Spectrometry: Complex Analysis
GC–MS is a powerful hyphenated method commonly used in forensics and environmental...
Mass Spectrometry: Overview

