Analysis of Volatile Components in E-liquid by Headspace Solid Phase Microextraction-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

A method combining headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was developed for analyzing the volatile components in e-liquids. Five different e-liquids were tested with the developed method. The results indicated that:1) The optimum pretreatment conditions were 65μm polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) coating assembly fiber, extracting for 30 minutes at 80℃, and desorbing for 5 minutes at 250℃. 2) 53, 31, 30, 17 and 29 compounds were identified in the 5 samples, respectively; among them, the main compounds were alkenes, alcohols, esters and hydrocarbons. 3) The average relative standard deviation of components' peak areas was 6.73% for 5 repeated tests of sample No.1. 4) The most important flavoring substance in the 5 e-liquids was limonene, followed by β-pinene, myrcene, menthol and 1-caryophyllene. Characteristic aroma substances were added into the e-liquids to enhance their flavor styles. This method features high sensitivity and good repeatability, it is suitable for the analysis of volatile components in e-liquids.