Analytical performance characteristics of nanoelectrospray emitters as a function of conductive coating

As miniaturization of electrospray continues to become more prevalent in the mass spectrometry arsenal, numerous types of conductive coatings have been developed with miniaturized electrospray emitters. Different conductive coatings have different properties that may lead to differences in analytical performance. This paper investigates and compares the analytical properties of a series of applied conductive coatings for low-flow electrospray ionization developed in this laboratory vs. commercially-available types. Evaporated graphite is thoroughly compared with commercially available polyaniline (PANI) coated emitters and metal coated emitters. Each set of emitters was investigated to determine various performance characteristics, including susceptibility to electrical discharge in both positive and negative ionization modes, as well as emitter reproducibility and generation of a standard curve to determine each emitter coating's limit of detection and limit of quantitation. Furthermore, evaporated graphite and polyaniline coated fused silica capillaries were investigated to determine which coating is more stable over long-term analyses and during electrical discharge.     

Polyaniline: A conductive polymer coating for durable nanospray emitters

Despite the tremendous sensitivity and lower sample requirements for nanospray vs. conventional electrospray, metallized nanospray emitters have suffered from one of two problems: low mechanical stability (leading to emitter failure) or lengthy, tedious production methods. Here, we describe a simple alternative to metallized tips using polyaniline (PANI), a synthetic polymer well known for its high conductivity, anticorrosion properties, antistatic properties, and mechanical stability. A simple method for coating borosilicate emitters (1.2 mm o.d.) pulled to fine tapers (4 ± 1 μm) with water-soluble and xylene-soluble dispersions of conductive polyaniline (which allows for electrical contact at the emitter outlet) is described. The polyaniline-coated emitters show high durability and are resistant to electrical discharge, likely because of the thick (yet optically transparent) coatings; a single emitter can be used over a period of days for multiple samples with no visible indication of the destruction of the polyaniline coating. The optical transparency of the coating also allows the user to visualize the sample plug loaded into the emitter. Examples of nanospray using coatings of the water-soluble and xylene-soluble polyaniline dispersions are given. A comparison of PANI-coated and gold-coated nanospray emitters to conventional electrospray ionization (ESI) show that PANI-coated emitters provide similar enhanced sensitivity that gold-coated emitters exhibit vs. conventional ESI.     

Gold-coated fused-silica sheathless electrospray emitters based on vapor-deposited titanium adhesion layers

Gold-coated fused-silica electrospray (ES) emitters based on vapor-deposited adhesion layers of titanium have been manufactured to investigate the possibilities of producing durable ES emitters applicable in chip-based analytical devices. The stabilities of the emitters were studied by both electrospray and electrochemical experiments and a marked increase in the emitter lifetime, compared to that for Cr/Au coated emitters, was found for the Ti/Au emitters in the ES durability tests. This indicates that Ti (rather than Cr) adhesion layers should be used in association with large-scale fabrication of ES emitters by vapor-deposition techniques. The lifetime of about 500-700 hours also allowed the Ti/Au-coated emitter to be used as an integrated part of a capillary liquid chromatography column coupled to a mass spectrometer in a series of LC/MS experiments. The Ti/Au coating was further studied by electrochemical techniques and scanning electron microscopy in conjunction with X-ray spectroscopy. It is shown that the eventual failure of the Ti/Au emitters in ES experiments was due to an almost complete detachment of the gold layer. Experimental evidence suggests that the detachment of the gold coating was due to a reduced adhesion to the titanium layer during oxidation in positive electrospray. Most likely, this was caused by the formation of an oxide layer on the titanium film. It is thus shown that unlimited emitter stabilities are not automatically obtained even if the metallic adhesion layer is stabilized by an oxide formation under positive electrospray conditions.     

Short-capillary electrophoresis with electrochemiluminescence detection using porous etched joint for fast analysis of lidocaine and ofloxacin

This paper describes the properties of a recently developed electrospray emitter coated with a fluorinated polymer of low surface energy. The emitters can produce stable electrospray from solvents of various surface tensions including distilled water with a high surface tension at a flow rate range of micro- to nanoliters without the aid of any nebulizing gas. The electrically non-conductive nature of the tips virtually eliminates electrical discharge and allows stable electrospray in the negative ion mode. The emitters are suitable for hyphenating HPLC to mass spectrometry in both positive and negative ion modes at low flow rates.     

Polyaniline-coated nanoelectrospray emitters treated with hydrophobic polymers at the tip

In nanoelectrospray ionization (nanoESI) techniques, the hydrophilic character of the emitters generally produces large bases for the Taylor cones, thereby generating relatively large droplet sizes and consequently reduced sensitivity. In order to minimize this 'wetting' effect in nanoESI, a model hydrophobic polymer (an acrylic paint) was coated at the tip of commercial polyaniline (PANI)-coated emitters, and their performance was compared with that of unmodified PANI emitters using oxytocin and neuropeptide Y (NPY) solutions. In experiments with oxytocin, the hydrophobic emitter produced higher signal intensities (up to 3.6 times) as well as higher signal-to-noise ratios (33% increase) than those from the unmodified PANI emitter. In addition, the hydrophobic emitter showed reusability and a slightly wider linear dynamic range (10 nM to 50 microM, r2=0.9938) than that from the unmodified PANI emitter (10 nM to 10 microM, r2=0.9904). In the case of NPY, the hydrophobic emitter also enabled an approximately 350-fold overall increase in sensitivity than the unmodified PANI emitter (70 zmol vs. 25 amol). The enhanced performance of the hydrophobic emitter clearly indicates potential for further increases in nanoESI sensitivity using emitters with tailored hydrophobic overcoatings.     

Zerovalent metal polymer composites. II. Metal–polymer microdispersions

Metallization of water-soluble polymers incorporating metal-binding ligand is achieved by binding palladium ions at substoichiometric quantities, followed by reduction to polymer–zero-valent palladium complex and deposition of transition metal ions by electroless plating solutions. The polymers studied include poly[N,N,N-trimethyl-N-(m- and p-vinylbenzyl)ammonium chloride], poly-L -glutamic acid, poly-L -lysine, and a copolymer of 2-phenylhydroquinone-2-amino-phthalic acid. Noble metal polyelectrolyte solutions were directly reduced with dimethylamineborane to stable microdispersions. The reactive nickel, cobalt and copper microdispersions were coated on KODAK ESTAR filmbase. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ESCA, and IR were used for material characterization. Conductivity and magnetic properties were also measured. Hydrophobic materials such as graphite and fluorinated graphite were metallized in organic solvents using hydrophobic trioctylammonium–tetrachloropalladate as the activating noble metal complex. The metallized conductive graphites were evaluated for their electrochemical properties.     

Surface and subsurface examination of graphite tubes after electrodeposition of noble metals for electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

The modification phenomena of noble metals (Pd, Ir, Rh) electrodeposited onto the inner surface of pyrolytic graphite (PG) coated furnaces were investigated mainly by electron microprobe analysis with energy dispersive X-ray emission detection. The conditions of electrodeposition were optimized in order to achieve the best analytical performance of atomic absorption measurements. Investigations concerning the distribution of noble metals on the tube surface and in-depth were performed at different stages of the tube history. It was found that the noble metals used for the modification do not form a compact layer on the surface but penetrate into the pyrolytic graphite structure already at the deposition step. When two metals were deposited together, both penetrated into the graphite structure. The degree of penetration of the pyrolytic graphite at high temperature differs for various metals. It was also demonstrated that electrodeposited noble metals remain in sub-surface domains of the graphite for hundreds of atomization cycles, which means that they can be used as permanent modifiers.     

Capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry from a polymer modified poly(dimethylsiloxane) microchip with an integrated graphite electrospray tip

Hybrid capillary-poly(dimethysiloxane)(PDMS) microchips with integrated electrospray ionization (ESI) tips were directly fabricated by casting PDMS in a mould. The shapes of the emitter tips were drilled into the mould, which produced highly reproducible three-dimensional tips. Due to the fabrication method of the microfluidic devices, no sealing was necessary and it was possible to produce a perfect channel modified by PolyE-323, an aliphatic polyamine coating agent. A variety of different coating procedures were also evaluated for the outside of the emitter tip. Dusting graphite on a thin unpolymerised PDMS layer followed by polymerisation was proven to be the most suitable procedure. The emitter tips showed excellent electrochemical properties and durabilities. The coating of the emitter was eventually passivated, but not lost, and could be regenerated by electrochemical means. The excellent electrochemical stability was further confirmed in long term electrospray experiments, in which the emitter sprayed continuously for more than 180 h. The PolyE-323 was found suitable for systems that integrate rigid fused silica and soft PDMS technology, since it simply could be applied successfully to both materials. The spray stability was confirmed from the recording of a total ion chromatogram in which the electrospray current exhibited a relative standard deviation of 3.9% for a 30 min run. CE-ESI-MS separations of peptides were carried out within 2 min using the hybrid PDMS chip resulting in similar efficiencies as for fused silica capillaries of the same length and thus with no measurable band broadening effects, originating from the PDMS emitter.     

Ni-P-C复合材料的制备及其电催化产氢性能研究

通过化学镀技术制备了亚微米级的Ni-P镀层石墨粉复合粉体新材料(即Ni-PC).采用扫描电子显微镜、X-射线能谱仪、X-射线粉末衍射仪对Ni-P-C复合粉体分别进行表面形貌分析、表面成分分析和物相分析.通过对Ni-P-C材料电极进行电解水析氢、循环伏安和Tafel极化等电化学测试,研究对比了Ni-P-C(石墨)材料与试剂石墨粉体以及纯Ni电极的电化学催化产氢性能.结果表明:利用化学镀技术成功地在石墨粉体表面镀上了一层亚微米级且均匀、致密的非晶态Ni-P合金.Ni-P-C(石墨)复合电极材料析氢能力强,具有良好的电化学活性.     

非晶态Fe－W合金镀层的表面改性

将Ｆｅ－Ｗ非晶态镀层在铬酸盐钝化液中进行化学钝化与电化学钝化，使之形成含铬钝化膜。阳极极化曲线说明，钝化后镀层的孔蚀电位向正向移动了约１．６８Ｖ；Ｆｅ－Ｗ非晶镀层在氯化钠溶液中浸泡近１ｈ表面发生严重腐蚀，而经钝化处理的镀层浸泡１个月，表面无变化，仍具有金属光泽。     

Electrochemical synthesis, characterization and some properties of a polymer derived from thioflavin S

Polymeric films derived from thioflavin S were electrosynthesized on mild steel and silver electrodes in sulfuric acid and lithium perchlorate-containing aqueous solutions. The introduction of thioflavin S in an acidic solution protected the surface of steel from corrosion. The electrochemical behavior of the steel coated with a layer of poly(thioflavin) was examined by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The films exhibited a capacitive behavior and were semi-conductive in nature. Infra red reflectance measurements of the polymer films at the steel surface showed that the polymer structure retained the aromatic structure of the benzene and thiazole rings with the distinction of a nitrogen quinone vibrational band. Surface morphology of the polymer film was examined with scanning electron microscopy. The films are yellow, compact and dense when electrochemically formed onto steel surfaces when compared to a blue rather porous when formed onto silver electrode. The mechanism of electropolymerization of thioflavin is given and found similar to that of aniline with the possibility of metal chelation with the sulfur and/or nitrogen in the thiazole ring.     

Fabrication of a Novel Polymeric Scaffold for Amperometric Laccase Biosensor

Present work displays the preparation of an electrochemical biosensor using a conjugated polymer and laccase enzyme for catechol quantification in samples. The biosensing system is based on an enzyme immobilization on polymer modified graphite transducer surface. For that purpose, a random conjugated polymer, thienothiophene‐benzoxadiazole‐alt‐benzodithiophene (BOTT), was coated onto a graphite electrode surface via drop casting method followed by immobilization of a biomolecule (laccase) for sensing experiments. Herein, for the first time, we proposed a BOTT polymer as an inexpensive and effective way to fabricate highly sensitive and fast response biosensors. The proposed sensing system possessed superior properties with 0.38 μM limit of detection and 110.81 μA mM^?1 sensitivity. Furthermore, cyclic voltammetry and scanning electron microscopy techniques were used to examine the surface modifications. The proposed system could be useful for many future studies for catechol quantification in environmental samples.© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 2333–2339     

A simple and robust conductive graphite coating for sheathless electrospray emitters used in capillary electrophoresis/mass spectrometry.

A graphite-polyimide mixture was used as a conductive coating for sheathless electrospray emitters. The coating procedure described is simple and inexpensive compared to previously described methods. An investigation of the stability of the conductive coating carried out by electrochemical methods revealed good performances during oxidative stress. In addition, no decrease in emitter performance was seen during continuous electrospray in the positive electrospray mode for two weeks. Fast capillary electrophoresis with attomole sensitivity demonstrated the excellent performance of the described sheathless interface when used in conjunction with an orthogonal time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The overall simplicity, stability and low cost of this type of sheathless emitter make the described approach highly suitable for any on-column coupling of low flow rate separation techniques to a mass spectrometer.     

A review on amperometric immunoassays for tumor markers based on the use of hybrid materials consisting of conducting polymers and noble metal nanomaterials

Conducting polymers possess good conductivity, can be easily modified, have a particular redox activity. Noble metal nanomaterials, in turn, possess high conductivity, catalytic properties and large surface-to-volume ratios. Synergistic materials consisting of both conducting polymer and metal nanomaterial therefore are most useful materials for use in electrochemical immunosensors with improved sensitivity and specificity. This review (with 75 references) gives an overview on advances in conducting polymer based noble metal nanomaterial hybrids for amperometric immunoassay of the 13 most common tumor markers. The review is divided into the following sections: (1) Polyaniline based noble metal nanomaterial hybrids; (2) Polyaniline derivative-based noble metal nanomaterial hybrids; (3) Polypyrrole-based noble metal nanomaterial hybrids. A final section covers future perspectives regarding challenges on the design of electrochemical immunoassays.

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Graphical abstract Advances on conducting polymer and noble metal nanomaterial hybrids for amperometric immunoassay of tumor marker are reviewed. Future perspectives regarding challenges on the construction of electrochemical immunosensing interface for tumor marker are discussed.

     

Flow-rate characterization of microfabricated polymer microspray emitters

Microfabricated polymer microspray emitters are characterized in terms of applicable flow rates, temporal and spectral signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), and solution composition. First, microspray emitters can be operated with 50% methanol/49% water/1% acetic acid from 250 nL/min up to 7 microL/min, with better SNRs above 1 microL/min. Interestingly, even at the lowest flow rates tested, they compare well with nanospray capillaries in terms of mass spectral performances. Secondly, they can be operated with acetonitrile from 10 up to 99% (v/v), with flow rates from 250 nL/min up to 4 microL/min. Even if the mass spectral performances (especially the spectral SNRs) vary with the acetonitrile content, this study validates such microfabricated microspray emitters as interfaces between liquid-phase separations and electrospray mass spectrometers.     

Characterization of microstructured fibre emitters: in pursuit of improved nano electrospray ionization performance

Full-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are presented for nano electrospray ionization (ESI) with various emitter designs. Our CFD electrohydrodynamic simulations are based on the Taylor-Melcher leaky-dielectric model, and the volume of fluid technique for tracking the fast-changing liquid-gas interface. The numerical method is first validated for a conventional 20 μm inner diameter capillary emitter. The impact of ESI voltage, flow rate, emitter tapering, surface hydrophobicity, and fluid conductivity on the nano-ESI behavior are thoroughly investigated and compared with experiments. Multi-electrospray is further simulated with 2-hole and 3-hole emitters with the latter having a linear or triangular hole arrangement. The simulations predict multi-electrospray behavior in good agreement with laboratory observations.     

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy for characterization of coatings with intrinsically conducting polymers

The method of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was applied to investigate the behaviour of a thin intrinsically conducting polymer film (ICP) deposited on a metal substrate. Especially the conductivity, the redox properties, the anion release properties, and the corrosion protection of a coating with and without ICP film on an iron or steel substrate were studied. Combined with other electrochemical methods, the reactions taking place at an injured surface area of the coated iron were studied. The corrosion protection mechanism of polythiophene could be explained.     

Insights into analyte electrolysis in an electrospray emitter from chronopotentiometry experiments and mass transport calculations

Insights into the electrolysis of analytes at the electrode surface of an electrospray (ES) emitter capillary are realized through an examination of the results from off-line chronopotentiometry experiments and from mass transport calculations for flow through tubular electrodes. The expected magnitudes and trends in the interfacial potential in an ES emitter under different solution conditions and current densities, using different metal electrodes, are revealed by the chronopotentiometry data. The mass transport calculations reveal the electrode area required for complete analyte electrolysis at a given volumetric flow rate. On the basis of these two pieces of information, the design of ES emitters that may maximize and those that may minimize analyte electrolysis during ES mass spectrometry are discussed.     

Dimethyl carbonate (DMC) electrolytes – the effect of solvent purity on Li–ion intercalation into graphite anodes

Graphite electrodes cycled in single solvent electrolytes based on dimethyl carbonate (DMC) exhibit surprising and unfamiliar behavior. The electrochemical performance of graphite anodes cycled vs. Li metal in DMC electrolytes, containing 1 M LiPF₆ is strongly dependent on the solvent purity. The behavior of the graphite anodes in electrolytes containing “pure” DMC is dependent mainly on the identity of the contamination present in the native solvent. It was found that methanol is causing deterioration in the electrochemical performance of the cycled graphite electrode, while carbon dioxide and mainly carbonochloridic acid methyl ester are enhancing the performance. It was established that it is essential to investigate and understand the processes and materials used during the production of battery grade solvents, in order to clarify the roll of traces of chemical compounds responsible for the variation and modification in the electrochemical behavior of the cycled electrodes.     

Chip-based capillary electrophoresis with an electrodeless nanospray interface

A sheathless and electrodeless nanospray interface has been used to interface a polycarbonate capillary electrophoresis (CE) chip to a mass spectrometer (MS). The chip was made of two flat polycarbonate plates which were bolted together. Channels were imprinted in one of the plates with metal wires, using a hydraulic press. A short tapered capillary connected to the chip was used as the nanospray emitter. The advantage of this electrodeless interface is that it was not necessary to apply a electrospray voltage to the chip or the nanospray emitter. Instead, the CE voltage already applied to the buffer compartment on the chip, to drive the electrophoresis, was used to generate the spray also. A low conductivity buffer of 1.25 mmol/L ammonium acetate in 80% methanol was used to obtain a large electric field across the buffer channel. The performance of the device was evaluated by analyzing a mixture of three beta-agonists Relative standard deviation (RSD) values obtained were between 4.8 and 5.0%. A sample concentration of 40 nmol/L resulted in a signal-to-noise ratio of 2 to 5 for the different components. Compared to a conventional CE analysis in a fused silica capillary with UV detection, only a minor loss of resolution was observed, which can be attributed to the design of the chip.