Development and characterization of a high-performance single-particle aerosol mass spectrometer (HP-SPAMS)

Abstract. This study describes a high-performance single-particle mass spectrometry (HP-SPAMS) design in detail. The comprehensive improvements in the injection system, optical sizing system, mass spectrometry, and data acquisition system have improved particle detection efficiency and chemical analysis. The combination of an aerodynamic particle concentrator (APC) system and a wide range of aerodynamic lenses (ADLs) enables the concentration of particles in the 100–5000 nm range. Using an APC increases the instrument inlet flow by a factor of 3–5. The ion delayed-exaction technology of bipolar time-of-flight mass spectrometry improves the mass resolution by 2–3 times, allowing the differentiation of isobaric ions of different substances. Moreover, the four-channel data acquisition technology greatly enhances the dynamic range of mass spectrometry. The improved HP-SPAMS enhances the overall capability of the instrument in terms of particle detection number and scattering efficiency. Moreover, it improves accuracy and sensitivity for component identification of individual particles. The experimental performance of HP-SPAMS shows that the scattering efficiency of polystyrene latex microspheres is almost 70 %–100 % in the range of 300–3000 nm. Compared to the previous SPAMS, HP-SPAMS has a larger inlet flow rate and scattering efficiency and a higher laser frequency, which makes HP-SPAMS increase the effective number of particles detected and improve the temporal resolution of detection. For the analysis of individual particles, HP-SPAMS achieves an average mass spectral resolution of 2500 at m/z 208, which helps distinguish between most organic fragment ions and metal ions and facilitates the analysis of complex aerosol particles. For the analysis of individual particles, the increased resolution of the HP-SPAMS contributes to the differentiation of most organic fragment ions and metal ions and facilitates the evaluation of complex aerosol particles, in the case of atmospheric lead-containing particles. The improved detection efficiency and chemical analysis capability of HP-SPAMS will be of great importance for low-concentration aerosol detection and complex aerosol component analysis.