IONICON Instruments at the Forefront of Recent Scientific Discoveries

Our instruments are used in a wide variety of scientific fields, ranging from environmental monitoring and atmospheric chemistry to food flavor profiling and medical breath analysis, empowering scientists to solve some of the world's most complex challenges.

Recently, three highly important papers were published, representing landmark findings in atmospheric and environmental science, and we are happy to highlight the role our instruments played in these discoveries.

• Nucleation of α-pinene oxidation products with sulfuric acid – Published in Environmental Science: Atmospheres (RSC), this study explores crucial mechanisms behind the formation of cloud condensation nuclei, providing valuable data for global climate modeling. Thanks to its market-leading low detection limits of less than 0.3 pptV in 60 s, the FUSION PTR-TOF contributed with timeseries of α-pinene at very low mixing ratios in the CERN CLOUD chamber empowering experiments at atmospheric relevant conditions.  
   
• Emissions of Amines and Their Derivatives from Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles: The Reverse Side of NOx Control – Published in Environmental Science & Technology (ACS), this research delivers unambiguous identification of amine emissions in heavy-duty diesel exhaust, uncovering the unintended environmental implications of modern emission-control systems in Chinese heavy-duty vehicles.
   
• Role of methanesulfonic acid in atmospheric particle nucleation and growth – Published in NATURE, this highly anticipated research stems from the prestigious CERN CLOUD experiment demonstrating the so-far unaccounted importance of methanesulfonic acid for atmospheric particle formation and hence, the climate. In the atmosphere, methanesulfonic acid is solely produced by dimethyl sulfide (DMS) that is emitted by marine phytoplankton. We are especially proud to report that during the experiment, conducted at freezing temperatures (-30 °C), DMS was measured using our FUSION PTR-TOF and quantified directly from first principles.