Development and application of a miniature mass spectrometer with continuous sub-atmospheric pressure interface and integrated ionization source

Zhu，Yanping1; Zhang，Ruina1; Wang，Kai1; Lu，Jun1; Lin，Lin2; Yang，Lili3; Zhang，Qian4; Wang，Xiaohao1; Yu，Quan1

2023-02-01

10.1016/j.talanta.2022.123994

TALANTA   Impact Factor & Quartile

0039-9140

For the miniature mass spectrometer (MS) with a continuous atmospheric pressure interface (CAPI), the gas in the multi-stage chambers directly affects the performance of the instrument. In this study, a sealed ionization chamber is designed to couple with a conventional mini CAPI-MS. In this configuration, the gas environment in the first ionization chamber can be flexibly changed to regulate the gas conditions throughout the entire instrument. By studying the effect of gas pressure on the performance of the instrument, we found that the instrument shows some unique advantages when the first ionization chamber is under sub-atmospheric pressure (SAP) conditions, such as reducing the load of the vacuum pump by 40%, achieving pump-free injection for gas and liquid samples, and improving the resolution by a factor of 2 without loss of detection sensitivity. Therefore, we propose a new integrated interface called continuous sub-atmospheric pressure interface (CSAPI) for building a miniature ion trap mass spectrometer. The CSAPI specially integrates sample introduction, gas/ions interface, and ionizations, including electrospray ionization (ESI) and secondary electrospray ionization (SESI), making this system more convenient for non-professional handlers to rapidly identify or monitor target analytes in gaseous- and solution-phase samples. We also use this system to study gas composition to further improve performance, being able to achieve a 5-fold sensitivity and 2-fold resolution improvement. At last, some custom applications of the current CSAPI-MS platform are explored and demonstrated, including real-time monitoring of chemical reactions in solution and long-distance sampling and analysis of dried Chinese herbs. In conclusion, this study provides a new approach to constructing a complete, versatile and practical miniature MS instrument.

English

Others

National Natural Science Foundation of China[21775085];Shenzhen Fundamental Research Program[JCYJ20180508152013054];

CHEMISTRY

2-s2.0-85139594228

Scopus

1.Division of Advanced Manufacturing,Shenzhen International Graduate School,Tsinghua University,Shenzhen,518055,China
2.Sustech Core Research Facilities,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China
3.School of Electrical Engineering,Yanshan University,Qinhuangdao,066004,China
4.Informatization and Industrialization Integration Research Institute,China Academy of Information and Communications Technology,Beijing,100191,China

Zhu，Yanping,Zhang，Ruina,Wang，Kai,et al. Development and application of a miniature mass spectrometer with continuous sub-atmospheric pressure interface and integrated ionization source[J]. TALANTA,2023,253.

Zhu，Yanping.,Zhang，Ruina.,Wang，Kai.,Lu，Jun.,Lin，Lin.,...&Yu，Quan.(2023).Development and application of a miniature mass spectrometer with continuous sub-atmospheric pressure interface and integrated ionization source.TALANTA,253.

Zhu，Yanping,et al."Development and application of a miniature mass spectrometer with continuous sub-atmospheric pressure interface and integrated ionization source".TALANTA 253(2023).