A thermal desorber assembly includes a housing and a desorption heater element mounted in the housing with a sample cavity defined between the desorption heater element and an inner wall of the housing. An outlet port is defined in the housing. A flow channel connects the sample cavity in fluid communication with the outlet port for conveying analytes from the sample cavity to the outlet port for introducing the analytes to a spectrometer.

The present invention relates to a preconcentrator for vapors and particles collected from air. The vapor preconcentrator is made from plural layer of coils. The coil is made of resistance alloy. The pitch size of the coil is made to precisely trap/filter out certain size of the particles during preconcentration. Multiple coils could be made with different pitch sizes to achieve multiple step filtrations. When the sample flow enters the preconcentrator chamber, it passes through the coils. The particles of different sizes are trapped on different layer of coils. The vapor sample can be trapped on any coils when interacted with the coil surface. They could be trapped without any affinitive coating as the preconcentrator is at relatively low temperature. Different coils or different sections of the coil can be coated with different material to trap chemicals of different classes. During the desorption process, the coils are flash heated with controlled temperature ramping speed to evaporate the trapped chemicals. Various configurations, constructions, and methods of operation are presented.

A method and system for sample analysis involve a temporally-resolving separation of sample components. In the method, solvent vapors are condensed prior to entering a temporally-resolving separator, a GC column, for example, and solvent-depleted vapors are directed to the separator where constituents are resolved in time. A system for analyzing a sample comprises an injection port, a temporally-resolving separator (e.g., a GC column) and a conduit connecting the two. The injection port is at a temperature sufficiently high to vaporize the solvent and analytes present in a sample. The conduit is configured and/or operated to condense the solvent, while maintaining the analytes in the vapor phase.

Components resolved in time by a thermal desorption separator accumulate in a sample cell and are analyzed by electromagnetic radiation-based spectroscopic techniques.

A system for solventless calibration of volatile or semi-volatile compounds and methods thereof. The system includes a fluid path having a first end configured to be operably coupled to a fluid source and a second end configured to be operably coupled to the analytical instrument. A solid sorbent is disposed along the fluid path and is configured to absorb an analyte. The flow of fluid along the fluid path from the first end to the second end causes absorbed analyte to be desorbed from the solid sorbent at a desired concentration to the instrument.

A system for solventless calibration of volatile or semi-volatile compounds and methods thereof. The system includes a fluid path having a first end configured to be operably coupled to a fluid source and a second end configured to be operably coupled to the analytical instrument. A solid sorbent is disposed along the fluid path and is configured to absorb an analyte. The flow of fluid along the fluid path from the first end to the second end causes absorbed analyte to be desorbed from the solid sorbent at a desired concentration to the instrument.

The present invention relates to a preconcentrator for vapors and particles collected from air. The vapor preconcentrator is made from plural layer of coils. The coil is made of resistance alloy. The pitch size of the coil is made to precisely trap/filter out certain size of the particles during preconcentration. Multiple coils could be made with different pitch sizes to achieve multiple step filtrations. When the sample flow enters the preconcentrator chamber, it passes through the coils. The particles of different sizes are trapped on different layer of coils. The vapor sample can be trapped on any coils when interacted with the coil surface. They could be trapped without any affinitive coating as the preconcentrator is at relatively low temperature. Different coils or different sections of the coil can be coated with different material to trap chemicals of different classes. During the desorption process, the coils are flash heated with controlled temperature ramping speed to evaporate the trapped chemicals. Various configurations, constructions, and methods of operation are presented.

A method to determine the weight percent of an “amorphous” fraction in an olefin-based polymer composition, comprising one or more olefin-based polymers; said method comprising the following steps: a) dissolving the olefin-based polymer composition in an organic solvent to form a polymer solution; b) injecting at least a portion of the polymer solution onto a support material, and wherein the support material has a Co-crystallization Index (CI) value from 0.70 to 1.20; c) cooling the support material at a rate greater than, or equal to, 0.2C/min; d) increasing the temperature of the support material to elute the polymers of the olefin-based polymer composition; e) generating a chromatogram; f) determining the peak area of the first elution from its lower integration limit to its upper integration limit; g) calculating the “amorphous” fraction” based on the following Equation A below: wt % “amorphous” fraction=PA.sub.amorphous/PA.sub.total×100 (Eqn. A); wherein PA.sub.amorp=peak area of the first elution, and PAtotal#191=total peak area of the polymers of the olefin-based polymer composition.

A method to determine the weight percent of an “amorphous” fraction in an olefin-based polymer composition, comprising one or more olefin-based polymers; said method comprising the following steps: a) dissolving the olefin-based polymer composition in an organic solvent to form a polymer solution; b) injecting at least a portion of the polymer solution onto a support material, and wherein the support material has a Co-crystallization Index (CI) value from 0.70 to 1.20; c) cooling the support material at a rate greater than, or equal to, 0.2C/min; d) increasing the temperature of the support material to elute the polymers of the olefin-based polymer composition; e) generating a chromatogram; f) determining the peak area of the first elution from its lower integration limit to its upper integration limit; g) calculating the “amorphous” fraction” based on the following Equation A below: wt % “amorphous” fraction=PA.sub.amorphous/PA.sub.total×100 (Eqn. A); wherein PA.sub.amorp=peak area of the first elution, and PAtotal#191=total peak area of the polymers of the olefin-based polymer composition.

A thermal desorption tube for chromatography and mass spectrometry analysis. The thermal desorption tube includes a sorbent and a plurality of focusing agents loaded at known, relative amounts onto the sorbent. Each focusing agent is a compound that chromatographically elutes within a retention time similar to a retention time of a target analyte and has a mass spectrum similar to a mass spectrum of the target analyte. The thermal desorption tube is configured to be further loaded with a sample having the target analyte.