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Published on: June 20, 2016
An 241Am Plasma Desorption Ionization (AmDI) Source Scavenged from Smoke Detectors for Ambient Mass Spectrometry
Dong Xing1, Chiyu Liang1, Xu Yuan1
1College of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage Center (ReCAST), Shenzhen Research Institute, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Abstract:
The development of efficient, low-cost, easy-to-use ambient ionization methods has been a major goal of modern mass spectrometry. In this Letter, we present a gas-free, voltage-free, economic, and safe desorption ionization method using the plasma generated by a radioactive element, americium-241, scavenged from smoke detectors that equip almost every household. No other energy sources, such as laser, discharge, fast-moving carrier gas, solvent droplet, ultrasound, or heat are needed. We name this new method as americium-241 desorption ionization (AmDI). AmDI is tested for the detection of more than 20 volatile and nonvolatile chemicals under different sampling conditions, and the detection limit can be in the range of tens of picograms for some analytes. Mechanistically, we provide evidence that the α particles emitted from radioactive decay ionize ambient air, and the resulting plasma further energizes and ionizes the surface analytes for mass spectrometry detection. We anticipate wide applications of AmDI in mass spectrometric sampling in the near future because of the plethora of merits.
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