Gas Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS)

Our state-of-the-art IRMS instrument (Thermo Scientific DELTA V Plus) is connected to various in-house membrane-inlet sample chambers, which enable time-resolved monitoring of gases in gaseous, liquid, and solid samples. That is the reason why we often call our technique as time-resolved membrane-inlet mass spectrometry (TR-MIMS). This TR-MIMS setup allows online detection of gases (such as H₂, CH₄, CO, CO₂, HCN, N₂, N₂O, O₂, H₂S, or SO₂), volatile compounds (such as CH₃OH, C₂H₅OH, (CH₃)₂S, (CH₃)₂SO), and their isotopologues.

The aim of our facility is to provide our expertise and the IRMS services for local, national, and international researchers (both academic and industrial) in their studies which require online monitoring of various gases, volatile compounds, and their isotopologues in complex reaction mixtures on time scales of seconds to days. We are open for all clients and potential collaborators.

In combination with isotope labelling our instrumentation can be applied in the following fields:

• Plant Sciences (plant physiology, photosynthesis and respiration research);
• Geochemistry (mass-dependent fractionation gas analyses, paleoclimatology and hydrogeology);
• Biochemistry (oxygenation reactions, enzyme kinetic studies, microbial processes);
• Medicinal Chemistry (In vivo monitoring of blood gases, cancer research);
• Soil Sciences (analysis of soil samples for gas composition and mass-dependent fractionations);
• Environmental Chemistry (online monitoring of biological and industrial processes in wastewaters, air analysis.

Find more information about our facility and projects at: http://irms.chem.umu.se/