Rapidly Switchable Dual Ion Source Combining ESI with iLTP/Tube Plasma for LC-MS, Multi-²D LC × LC, and SLIM-IM-MS...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Mass Spectrometry
• Chromatography

Background:

• High-throughput analysis is crucial for efficient and cost-effective laboratory operations.
• Minimizing downtime in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is a key challenge.
• Diverse analyte ionization behaviors necessitate flexible analytical approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and construct a dual ion source for LC-MS.
• To enable rapid switching between electrospray ionization (ESI) and dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) plasma ionization modes.
• To evaluate the performance of the dual ion source in high-throughput analyses.

Main Methods:

• Development of a dual ion source capable of atmospheric pressure ESI and DBD plasma ionization.
• Integration of the dual ion source with single- and multidimensional liquid chromatography.
• Coupling with quadrupole-time-of-flight (Q-TOF) and ion mobility mass spectrometry (IMS) instruments.
• Analysis of mixed standards and real-world samples.

Main Results:

• The dual ion source successfully achieved rapid switching between ESI and DBD ionization modes during chromatographic runs.
• Stable performance and strong ion signals were maintained throughout ionization mode switching.
• Instrumental limits of detection were as low as sub 1 nM for both ESI and DBD ionization.
• Successful analysis of diverse analytes with different ionization properties in a single run.

Conclusions:

• The developed dual ion source offers a versatile solution for high-throughput LC-MS analysis.
• It facilitates the analysis of compounds with varying ionization characteristics within a single analytical workflow.
• This technology improves efficiency and cost-effectiveness in analytical laboratories by enabling rapid ionization mode switching.