title: An interface for online coupling capillary electrophoresis to dielectric barrier discharge ionization mass spectrometry.
abstract: The online combination of capillary electrophoresis (CE) with mass spectrometry (MS) has long been desired for the capability of direct and simultaneous separation and detection with high efficiency, accuracy, and throughput. In this work, a novel CE-MS interface was developed, using dielectric barrier discharge ionization (DBDI). The interface employed a spray tip with a coaxial three-layer structure, into which the CE sample solution, the sheath liquid, and the nebulizing gas were introduced. The spray tip was put between the DBDI outlet and the MS inlet, thus the CE sample solution could be blended with the sheath liquid, then nebulized. The nebulized sample could be ionized by DBDI, and finally analyzed by MS. The key parameters of the interface were optimized. Then, proof-of-concept experiments separating and detecting the mixture of metronidazole and acetaminophen solutions were conducted. The results showed high separation efficiency, low time consumption, high reproducibility, and convenience in operation. In addition, the interface exhibited a high tolerance of non-volatile salts and surfactants, which would be widely used in CE analyses. All of these results demonstrated that the newly developed CE-DBDI-MS interface could be successfully used in CE-MS studies, and could be further utilized in multiple areas involving efficient separation and detection.
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
authors.forename: Yiding
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
authors.forename: Wanpeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ai
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China. yu.bai@pku.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
authors.forename: Yinglin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: The Research Institute of Advanced Technologies, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhèjiāng, 315211, China.
authors.forename: Luhong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
authors.forename: Xinxiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China. hwliu@pku.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Huwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
keywords: Ambient mass spectrometry; Capillary electrophoresis; Dielectric barrier discharge ionization; Interface