Sciex and Mass Spec have successfully integrated the X500R QTOF mass spectrometer with the TEIS-3200 ion source. As part of the test and validation process, the combination of a heated block based thermal desorption (TD) corona discharge ionization (CDI) source with an accurate mass Q-TOF mass spectrometer was tested for the analysis of dried explosive residues obtained from the swab of a surface. Traditional security screening techniques can report erroneous responses when based solely upon collisional cross section measurements or differential mobility.
In a poster that was presented at the BMSS Annual meeting in Manchester, September 2017, The potential application of a SWATH MS/MSALL acquisition for the direct analysis of dried explosive residues was reported.
Using nano-gram levels of known explosives spiked onto a flat surface that are presented to the ionisation source, both precursor and production ion information was generated in under 10 seconds. The SWATH MS/MSALL approach enables the analysis of accurate mass precursor ions enabling elemental composition and isotope pattern predictions and product ion data that are subsequently matched to MS/MS based libraries for enhanced identification confidence.