Solid Phase Micro-extraction – Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry to Characterize Pyrolysis Products from Textiles

ABSTRACT

Headspace solid phase micro-extraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME GC–MS) was used for identifying thermally labile volatile compounds from cotton, wool, polyester, olefin, silk, and acrylic. Volatile compounds were generated from the textiles using a pyrolysis apparatus prior to GC–MS. Pyrolysis temperatures ranged from 190 to 550°C. Each textile displayed a unique chromatogram containing compounds that were consistent with the chemical structure of the textile. Experimental parameters that were investigated included the temperature, sample size, and sampling time to determine their effect on the number and intensity of peaks in the chromatograms as well as to identify optimum conditions for analysis. Heating of each sample was achieved using a resistively heated Pt wire. Full pyrolysis at 550°C of the textiles appeared to give the best results in terms of peak height relative to background. A range of sample sizes (0.02–1.5 mg) were used and, generally, ≤0.02 mg was used for identifying the textiles. The reproducibility of retention times for selected compounds in the chromatograms was less than 1% relative standard deviation. The combination with mass spectrometry provided valuable structural information.

KEYWORDS:

• Acrylic
• cotton
• gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS)
• polyester
• silk
• solid phase microextraction
• textiles
• wool