Design and performance of an evolved gas analysis ion attachment mass spectrometer

We designed a simple evolved gas analysis (EGA) system to act as a sampler between solid samples at atmospheric pressure and the high vacuum inside a mass spectrometer. The newly designed stainless steel system is simple, small and rugged and fulfills all the basic requirements for EGA. The temperature is programmable with 60°C/min as the maximum heating rate and the temperature range is up to 600°C. With this system coupled with lithium ion attachment mass spectrometry (IAMS), it is possible to study the temperature‐programmed decomposition of a number of solid materials by detecting any chemical species on a real‐time basis. For illustrative purposes, EGA‐IAMS experiments of polyethylene polymers have been conducted. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.