Polyester and other synthetic fibers are found in clothing, carpets, upholstery, and several other everyday sources, so finding these fibers at a crime scene is relatively high. Disperse dyes are commonly used for synthetic fibers and are of interest for forensic purposes. The characterization of disperse dyes directly from 22 different dyed polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers with minimal sample preparation was performed via Direct Analysis in Real-Time (DART) in combination with Quadrupole Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (QTOF-MS). First, 20 commercial disperse dyes were selected. Their chemical compositions were confirmed by quality control (QC) tests via high-resolution QTOF mass spectrometry, where exact mass, isotropic distribution, and fragmentation patterns under collision-induced dissociation (CID) were collected. Then, 9 disperse dyes that passed the QC tests were sent to the Wilson College of Textiles dyeing facility, where PET fabrics dyed with different disperse dyes were obtained. Fiber samples were taken from these fabrics and tested by DART QTOF-MS. Results confirmed that DART QTOF-MS could remove, ionize, and correctly identify all the disperse dyes directly from PET fibers with different dye compositions, including single dye, monochromatic with two dichromatic with two dyes, and a black formula made up of three different dyes. This work is part of the development of a dye database. Besides commercial dyes, we are working with the Max Weaver Dye Library, with ~100,000 dyes, to enhance the possibility of identification of unknown dyes found in crime scenes. Results from this study indicate the capability of the DART-MS in the forensic and analytical chemistry field as a rapid characterization method and in the textile industry as a fast quality control process.

Rapid and simultaneous detection of disperse dyes on polyester fibers via direct analysis in real-time and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

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ACS Fall 2022

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