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Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Real-time Breath Analysis by Using Secondary Nanoelectrospray Ionization Coupled to High Resolution Mass Spectrometry
Published on: March 9, 2018
Nanoelectromechanical resonator arrays for ultrafast, gas-phase chromatographic chemical analysis
1Kavli Nanoscience Institute, California Institute of Technology, MS 114-36, Pasadena, California 91125.
Abstract:
Miniaturized gas chromatography (GC) systems can provide fast, quantitative analysis of chemical vapors in an ultrasmall package. We describe a chemical sensor technology based on resonant nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) mass detectors that provides the speed, sensitivity, specificity, and size required by the microscale GC paradigm. Such NEMS sensors have demonstrated detection of subparts per billion (ppb) concentrations of a phosphonate analyte. By combining two channels of NEMS detection with an ultrafast GC front-end, chromatographic analysis of 13 chemicals was performed within a 5 s time window.
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