2012 Volume 27 Issue 4 Pages 371-384
Introduction of single particle mass spectrometry (SPMS) to the aerosol science community 20 years ago, enabled aerosol scientists to characterize size and composition of each individual particle in real time, having a large impact on aerosol research. Since then, SPMSs have been used for characterizing size-resolved aerosol compositions in various places and environments to facilitate our insight into complicated reality and nature of natural and anthropogenic aerosols. In recent years, unique ability of SPMS technique (e.g., diverse chemical detection capability, real-time and in-situ measurement capability, high sensitivity enough to analyze composition of 100 nm size of nanoparticles) let SPMS technique expand its way for new research applications. For instance, multidimensional aerosol characterization by coupling SPMS with other aerosol physicochemical measurement/separation instruments (e.g., hygroscopicity, optical property, particle shape), on-line and real-time detection of toxic particles and chemical substances is now realized with SPMS technique, emerging new SPMSs which can efficiently analyze nanoparticles with diameter less than 50 nm, and simultaneous single particle nm-scale X-ray imaging and mass spectrometry are examples of new applications. In this article, rather than ordinary single particle chemical analysis, recent unique SPMS applications, which take full advantage of the unique capability of SPMS technique, are reviewed.
