Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) Using gas Chromatography and NEMS Detector

This paper describes the analysis of a mixture of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using gas chromatography (GC) and nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS). The performance of NEMS to detect PAHs is assessed and compared with that of commercial flame ionization detector (FID). The limit of detection of the GC-NEMS system ranges from 70 pg to 500 pg, which confirm the potential of NEMS to quantify high molecular weight molecules. The limitations of such a system to detect PAHs are discussed.