RESEARCH

TOBACCO CENTERS OF REGULATORY SCIENCE

ION-MOLECULE INTERACTIONS

AEROSOL ANALYSIS

Our group uses mass spectrometry to support the UNC School of Medicine Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS). TCORS is focused on the study of new and emerging tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, little cigars, and hookah, and their potential impact on public health.  Directions include characterization and quantification of compounds in the products, as well as in the generated aerosols.

Our research spans a broad range of mass spectrometry related topics such as instrument development, ion mobility, computational studies of ions and molecules, and development of simple ion-molecule reactions to differentiate stereoisomers. The ion-molecule reactions have been used to distinguish lithiated monosaccharide and disaccharides by adduction of water to the lithiated molecules.

Current work in aerosol analysis focuses on characterizing aerosol generated from biomass burning.  To aid in this, we engage in ion source development and characterization to allow us to do real-time sampling from the aerosol generated from pyrolized biomass.  We have also begun to couple ion mobility to these ambient ionization techniques to allow an additional dimension of separation, including atmospheric pressure drift tube ion mobility spectrometry (AP-DTIMS) and differential ion mobility spectrometry (DIMS).