title: Direct laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry of conjugated polymers.
abstract: Two conjugated polymers (CPs), poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (PF) and poly(3-octylthiophene) (PT) were analyzed by direct laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LDI-ToF MS). Because of their strong absorption near the wavelength of the laser (337 nm), easy and transient energy transfer properties and sufficient thermal stability, CPs can be desorbed and ionized directly without a matrix. For comparison, these two polymers were also analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-ToF MS in the positive reflectron mode. The results revealed that they are very similar in terms of quality and resolution. All results demonstrate that LDI-ToF MS is an alternative method for the mass characterization of some conjugated systems, thereby simplifying the process of sample preparation and result analysis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Zhun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Liang-Liang
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Qiang
authors.forename: Qu-Li
authors.initials: QL
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Yan-Yan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Kan-Yi
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Pu
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang