Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5130746 | Analytica Chimica Acta | 2017 | 7 Pages |
â¢Advances in interfacing liquid chromatography and electron ionization mass spectrometry.â¢Development of innovative sol-gel ion source coatings.â¢Noticeable results with the silica-based ion source coating.â¢Improved detection of high-molecular weight and/or high-polar compounds.
Advances in interfacing liquid chromatography and electron ionization mass spectrometry are presented. New ion source coatings synthesized by sol-gel technology were developed and tested as vaporization surfaces in terms of peak intensity, peak width and peak delay for the liquid chromatography-direct electron ionization mass spectrometry (Direct-EI) determination of environmental pollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and steroids. Silica-, titania-, and zirconia-based coatings were sprayed inside the stainless steel ion source and characterized in terms of thermal stability, film thickness and morphology. Negligible weight losses until 350-400 °C were observed for all the materials, with coating thicknesses in the 6 (±1)-11 (±2) μm range for optimal ionization process. The best performances in terms of both peak intensity and peak width were obtained by using the silica-based coating: the detection of the investigated compounds was feasible at low ng μlâ1 levels with a good precision (RSD < 9% for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and <11% for hormones).
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