Ionicon Celebrates their 15th Anniversary

Ionicon (Austria), specialist manufacturers of PTR-MS real-time trace gas analysers, was founded in July 1998 with the intention to commercialise a technology developed by scientists at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.

The company now offers solutions for a broad range of markets covering environmental research, food & flavour science but also medical and biotechnological process monitoring.

Ionicon develops and manufactures ultra-sensitive real-time trace gas analysers using the unique Proton Transfer Reaction – Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) and proprietary Selective Reagent Ionisation – Mass Spectrometry (SRI-MS) technology. Besides this a portfolio of calibration devices for analytical trace gas analysers has been successfully introduced.

When Ionicon launched the first PTR-MS in 1998, it revolutionised the direct and online analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Before, scientists had to rely on cost and time consuming chemical methods that wouldn't provide such a high time-resolution nor sensitivity.

Founded on 14 July 1998, as a one-man operation, Ionicon soon was to become an international success story with an approximate 90% export share of its steadily increasing turnover. Currently the company has a staff of close to 30 experts.

Over 250 leading scientists, institutions and multinational corporations are among Ionicon’s customers. They rely on PTR-MS instruments for results in real-time, capable of detecting one out of a trillion parts (LoD < 1 pptv) without time consuming sample preparation procedures. Applications of Ionicon instruments are ranging from atmospheric chemistry and environmental research to food and flavour science, real-time monitoring of industrial fermentation processes and of synthetic gas production processes in the petrochemical industry but also in toxic or illicit substances detection.

Scientists at the University of Innsbruck’s Institute for Ion and Applied Physics deploy innovative Ionicon PTR-TOFMS technology regularly on NASA atmospheric research aircrafts for measuring air pollution in the atmosphere. Their colleagues from the same institute use PTR-MS in experiments at CERN that recently resulted in a NATURE journal article. Ionicon CEO Lukas MÄRK adds: “Aircraft companies but also car manufacturers monitor the quality of cabin air with our instruments. Large food companies such as espresso-capsules manufacturers or flavour & fragrance producers rely on PTR-MS for sensory analytics. Scientists aboard icebreakers, atmospheric chemists screening the air in Antarctica or in rainforests, biologists trying to understand relationships between insects and plants, there are countless applications for our instruments.”