Ambient ion focusing for paper spray ionisation

Smith, Barry Lee ORCID: 0000-0001-5571-3647, Boisdon, Cedric, Romero-Perez, David, Sham, Tung-Ting ORCID: 0000-0002-9648-4964, Bastani, Behnam, Zhou, Yufeng, McWilliam, Stephen ORCID: 0000-0002-0509-7425, Badu-Tawiah, Abraham Kwame and Maher, Simon (2022) Ambient ion focusing for paper spray ionisation. International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 471. p. 116737.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijms.2021.116737

Abstract

Paper Spray (PS) is an ambient ionisation technique that is conceptually simple, economical, direct and versatile. In its simplest form, the procedure for operation relies on the application of an electric potential to a triangular-shaped paper substrate with the addition of an extraction/spray solvent to generate charge droplets, without requiring any pneumatic assistance. Despite its promise and rapidly growing popularity, there are some practical challenges associated with PS implementation with scope to enhance its performance further. One such challenge relates to only a small fraction of the Taylor cone expansion being sampled at the MS inlet. In this work we propose a new arrangement for PS, which retains the inherent advantages of this popular technique without introducing additional variables, by using an ambient ion focusing lens that is held at the same potential as the paper substrate. A thorough investigation, consisting of visual spray inspection, electric field simulations and analytical evaluation, including analysis of paracetamol from saliva, shows that ambient ion focusing can provide up to a 50% improvement in spray stability, 60% increase in signal intensity and a 30% improvement in detection limits for routine paper spray mass spectrometry analysis.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Ambient ionisation, Paper spray, Ion focusing, Mass spectrometry, Paracetamol, Saliva
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Life Courses and Medical Sciences Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Computer Science
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	03 Nov 2021 09:48
Last Modified:	18 Jan 2023 21:25
DOI:	10.1016/j.ijms.2021.116737
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3142503