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• Thermospray
liquid flow leaving an LC system is heated to
create a spray of superheated mist containing
small liquid droplets.
Ionization can be:
• Real thermospray that uses a volatile buffer
• One with an external ionization that uses
discharge electrode.
Figure 2: Thermospray interface. (a) configuration for ‘real-TSP-ionization’ (filament off) or
external ionization (filament on). (b) configuration with discharge electrode for external
ionization and repeller electrode. (Adapted from reference 14.)
Main Disadvantages of Earlier LC/MS systems
API
. comes with better sensitivity and ruggedness
Today’s LC/MS Ionization Methods
All Done at Atmospheric Pressure
• On-line techniques:
– Electrospray (ESI) - Fenn @ Yale ~1984
• Shared Nobel Prize in 2002 for this work with K. Tanaka
(MALDI) and K. Wüthrich (NMR)
– Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization (APCI)
• Irabarne & Thomson ~1979
– Atmospheric Pressure Photo Ionization (APPI)
• Emerging, not as widely used yet.
• All of the above are done at atmospheric
pressure
– Significant change from traditional ionization
methods which were all done within the vacuum
chamber.
Ionization Techniques – Application range
High Voltage
+ –
+ +
+
+
+++ + + To Q0
– ++ + +
++ – + + -3
+ + (8x10 Torr)
Sample +
+
Ions
as
oG
Nebulizer Gas
rb
Tu
Ion Source
(atmosphere)