Mass spectrometry for the characterization and quantification of engineered inorganic nanoparticles

Among the different available analytical tools for the characterization and quantification of engineered inorganic NPs, mass spectrometry (MS) offers outstanding capabilities. The analytical capabilities of different MS-based techniques, including elemental and molecular detection, and hybrid tools derived from their coupling with different separation approaches, to identify, characterize and quantify NPs is here revised. A forward look into trends on the use of MS for more complete chemical analysis of engineered inorganic NPs is finally attempted.