Performance of Cryogenic Adsorbents for Use in Methane Bulk and Clumped Isotope Analysis
Among the tested adsorbents, silica gels demonstrated superior performance, preserving δ<sup>13</sup>C-CH<sub>4</sub>, δD-CH<sub>4</sub>, ∆<sup>13</sup>CH<sub>3</sub>D, and ∆<sup>12</sup>CH<sub>2</sub>D<sub>2</sub> values close to or within performance targets while offering high adsorption capacity, reproducibility, and ease of regeneration. Adsorbent-free cryotrapping is a viable alternative for sufficiently large methane volumes, where vapor pressure isotope effects (VPIEs) become negligible. However, cryogenic adsorbents remain indispensable for ensuring isotopic accuracy for small sample volumes and high-precision applications.
Authors
- Paul Magyar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0234-247X)
- Joachim Mohn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9799-1001)
- Jan Meißner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8192-5384)
- Léna Monnereau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6233-9048)
- Naizhong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0065-8641)
- Nico Kueter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3620-5414)
- Stefano M. Bernasconi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7672-8856)
- Lukas Emmenegger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9812-3986)
Institutions
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (CH)
- RWTH Aachen University (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry
- Published
- 2025-04-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.10040
- Primary Topic
- Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- European Commission
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
- RWTH Aachen University
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
- Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation
- European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research