title: The Structural Influence of Graphene Oxide on Its Fragmentation during Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry for Efficient Small-Molecule Analysis.
abstract: The structural influence of graphene oxide (GO) on laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) analysis of small molecules was systematically investigated by using size-fractionated GO. For fractionation of GO, pH-assisted centrifugation, sequential vacuum filtration, and sonochemical cutting processes were employed and the size-fractionated GO was thoroughly characterized to understand their size-dependent optochemical properties. Then, the fractionated GO was applied to the analysis of various small molecules by LDI-MS to investigate the relationship between their optochemical properties and LDI-MS performance. We found that large GO sheets (>0.5 μm) were more prone to fragmentation under laser irradiation during LDI-MS analysis than small GO sheets (<0.5 μm). In this regard, the LDI-MS analysis efficiency of various small molecules was significantly improved by using nanosized GO (NGO) as a matrix without background interference. In particular, NGO was successfully applied to the sensitive detection of hydrophobic pollutant molecules without requiring any surface-functionalization, enrichment, and separation process. Therefore, the present study could provide important basic information and be a practical tool for the development of simple and efficient LDI-MS platforms by using GO derivatives.
authors: Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-747 (Korea), Fax: (+82) 2-889-1568.
authors: Young-Kwan
authors: YK
authors: Kim
authors: Dal-Hee
authors: DH
authors: Min
mesh_terms: D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries / Q000737:chemistry; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D010087:Oxides; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries; D006108:Graphite
keywords: biosensors; chemosensors; graphene; mass spectrometry; nanostructures