Laser desorption/ionization of carbon clusters

Results of mass spectrometric investigations of soot by using the laser desorption/ionization (LDI) method and time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry are presented. Several liquid fuels (benzene, tetrahydrofuran, toluene, acetonitrile, acetone, isopropanol, ethanol) were used to produce soot samples. Each soot gives specific mass spectrum of carbon clusters Cn as well as their size. The best clustering process was observed for benzene soot with the cluster size n⩽31. The benzene soot was applied in the detection of insulin by using the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) method.