Insights on complex carbonaceous material structure by mass spectrometric tools

In the present work, a method involving Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis and a home-made software was applied for interpreting the mass spectra of complex PAH-laden samples derived from combustion systems and from heavy fossil fuels, thereby giving information on their composition. FFT analysis allows individuating periodicities that can indicate preferential growth routes and/or fragmentation patterns related to the chemical composition .The home-made software is able to sort large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (LPAHs), which were found to be the major components in the complex mixtures, by their carbon number and double bond equivalence (DBE) number. Iso-abundance plots were introduced to sort and visualize the molecular constituents into different types based on the carbon and double bond equivalence (DBE) numbers .