Characterization of dielectric barrier discharges for analytical chemistry

Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) are well-established and useful tools for scientific as well as industrial applications. They have been of high interest for analytical applications due to the fact that DBDs can produce small, low temperature/power, and atmospheric plasmas. These kind of plasmas can be applied for the detection and quantification of analytes in several ways: either, DBDs can be used for example as fragmentation and excitation sources to detect elements via optical emission spectrometry (OES), or as ionization sources of molecules for the detection via mass spectrometry (MS). ISAS has developed several of these discharges and studied the impact of the DBD itself on the subsequent application. This work summarizes the development from low pressure DBD implemented in diode laser atomic absorption spectrometry to atmospheric DBDs that can be used for different ambient applications such as the trace detection of arsenic species via OES or the soft ionization of molecular compounds via MS.