Abstract
We report on the development of a high-sensitivity and high-specificity sensor, combining membrane extraction, pre-concentration, and gas-chromatographic differential mobility spectrometry (GC/DMS), for in situ detection of chlorinated hydrocarbons in water. Direct in-situ detection was achieved by membrane conversion of aqueous analyte to vapor, followed by vapor spectroscopy using GC/DMS analyzer. The limit of detection (LOD) reaches 0.37 parts per billion in volume (ppbv), or 0.54 ug/L, for aqueous trichloroethylene (TCE) and 1.6 ug/L for perchloroethylene (PCE) by incorporating a preconcentrator between the membrane extraction and GC/DMS detection systems. The high specificity was achieved using two-dimensional separation parameters of GC retention time and DMS compensation voltage. The presence of co-contaminants and foreign contaminants, such as benzene, toluene, CCl4, and CHCl3 did not interfere with the identification of chlorinated hydrocarbons. This highly-sensitive and -specific sensor paves the way for developing field-deployable sensors for in-situ and real-time monitoring of chlorinated hydrocarbons in groundwater and surface water.