Electrospray Ion Mobility Spectrometer Based on Flexible Printed-Circuit Board Electrodes with Improved Resolving...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Mass Spectrometry
• Instrumentation

Background:

• Drift tube instruments are crucial for ion mobility spectrometry.
• Improving resolving power in drift tube instruments is an ongoing challenge.
• Flexible printed circuit boards offer potential for novel instrument construction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report an easily built drift tube instrument using flexible printed circuit board electrodes.
• To maximize the resolving power of the instrument through careful design and parameter optimization.
• To demonstrate the instrument's capability in separating specific ions.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a drift tube instrument with ring electrodes from rolled flexible printed circuit boards.
• Optimization of drift tube geometry, detector amplifier response time, and separation field strength.
• Electrospray ionization for introducing singly charged aliphatic quaternary ammonium ions and benzalkonium chlorides.
• Evaluation of separation performance using measured resolving power against theoretical limits.

Main Results:

• The instrument was easily constructed and achieved high resolving power.
• Measured resolving power reached 86-97% of the theoretical limit for various drift tube lengths.
• Resolving powers up to 228 were obtained for a 30 cm drift length.
• Separation of three benzalkonium chlorides with resolving powers over 210 was achieved.
• A tristate injection scheme showed minimal loss in separation performance compared to two-state injection.

Conclusions:

• The developed drift tube instrument offers a practical and effective solution for ion separation.
• The design, utilizing flexible printed circuit boards, allows for high resolving power.
• The instrument demonstrates significant potential for applications in chemical analysis and ion mobility studies.