Design and construction of a pyrolysis unit – demonstrated in connection with gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry

In analytical and bioanalytical chemistry, pyrolysis is often used for thermal decomposition of complex, non-volatile samples into smaller and more volatile constituents in an inert atmosphere as a preparatory step in various analytical techniques to reveal the composition of a sample by quantifying its constituents and building blocks, rendering it a powerful tool for analyzing samples ranging from synthetic polymers to natural biomaterials. This work presents an open-source pyrolysis unit with temperature regulation based on the Curie temperature of a ferromagnetic wire serving as the sample holder. The system's modular design makes it adaptable to many different analytical applications. Depending on the voltage of the power supply and the excitation frequency of the coil, fast temperature rise times of 2 s can be reached, and the temperature is selectable between 350 °C and 1100 °C, depending on the material used for the ferromagnetic wire. Coupling this pyrolyzer to a gas chromatograph-ion mobility spectrometer for analyzing probiotics demonstrates one exemplary application.