Solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry utilized for the evaluation of the new-generation super elastic fiber assemblies

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance characteristics of the recently developed super elastic solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers. The fiber needle, plunger and fiber core are manufactured with a special type of flexible alloy that exhibits excellent shape memory and tensile strength. This material makes the assemblies more robust, permitting several hundreds of analyses in a sequence, which is one of the ways to improve the robustness and sample throughput of automated SPME methods. The design and size of the needle utilized in the new fiber assemblies is discussed here, as well as the use of a septum-free injector replacement and a low-volume direct injection glass liner placed in the GC inlet. Deionized water and pump oil samples spiked with target volatile compounds (McReynold's probes and toluene) were used for the purposes of the presented study. A fully automated SPME sample preparation technique was combined with the GC-TOFMS system for the chromatographic separation and identification/quantification of the target analytes. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.