Improved design for the atmospheric pressure photoionization source.
A different design for the atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) source, other than commercially available sources, such as PhotoSpray and PhotoMate, has been proposed. Unlike PhotoSpray, this design applies an electric field to separate photoions and electrons. In addition, the UV radiation is parallel to the gas stream toward the mass spectrometer sampling aperture. The total ion current obtained using this geometry, for dopant only, could be an order of magnitude larger than that obtained using the PhotoSpray design. Additionally, to prevent the negative effect of solvent on the photoionization yield, a curtain electrode was mounted in front of the UV lamp to divide the ionization zone into two distinct regions: the dopant and the solvent regions. Dopant was introduced in the vicinity of the lamp, and vaporized solvent was introduced into the solvent region. The curtain electrode prevented the solvent from entering the dopant region where dopant was directly photoionized. This design consumes much less dopant (approximately 1/10 less) than the conventional source, which minimizes the presence of photofragmented radicals and dopant trace contaminants in the ionization region. As a result, unlike PhotoSpray, the mass spectra contained mainly the analyte and solvent peaks. Additionally, the source was tested using an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS). The effect of the curtain electrode on signal intensity and performance of the source using IMS was also proved to be positive.
Department of Chemistry, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran.
Mahmoud
M
Tabrizchi
Hamed
H
Bahrami