Chemical Characterization of Airplane Soot Particles and Surrogates Using Laser Desorption Ionization and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry

Collecting soot particles emitted by airplane engines in well-controlled conditions is a challenging task. This motivates laboratory studies aimed at finding a good surrogate (i.e. with similar physical and chemical properties) for such particles. We present here preliminary results of a comparative study on the chemical composition of soot particles emitted by three combustion sources: airplane SaM146 turbofan, Combustion Aerosol Standard (CAST), and laboratory kerosene diffusion jet flame. Two-step (desorption/ionization) laser mass spectrometry (L2MS) and Time-of-Flight Secondary Ions Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) were used as analysis techniques.