Development and fundamental characterization of a nanoelectrospray ionization atmospheric pressure drift time ion mobility spectrometer

• Main Author: Kwasnik, Mark
• Published: Georgia Institute of Technology 2010
• Subjects: Ion mobility spectrometry; IMS; Monolithic; Resistive glass; Instrumentation; Multiplexing; Ion mobility spectroscopy; Spectrum analysis; Ion bombardment
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1853/33879

Drift time ion mobility spectrometry (DTIMS) is a rapid post ionization gas-phase separation technique that distinguishes between compounds based on their differences in reduced mass, charge and collisional cross-section while under a weak, time-invariant electric field. Standalone DTIMS is currently employed throughout the world for the detection of explosives, drugs and chemical-warfare agents. The coupling of IMS to MS (IM-MS) has enabled the performance of time-nested multidimensional separations with high sample throughput and enhanced peak capacity, allowing for the separation of ions not only based on their mass/charge (m/z) ratios, but also their shape. This allows for the elucidation of valuable structural information that can be utilized for determining gas phase ion conformation and differentiation between closely related ionic species. Over the past decade, these advances have transformed IM-MS applications and instrumental designs into one of the most rapidly growing areas of mass spectrometry. The work presented in this thesis is aimed at the development and subsequent characterization of a novel high-resolution resistive-glass atmospheric pressure DTIMS, and the application of this prototype DTIMS to the detection of environmentally relevant compounds. A review of the different types of ion mobility spectrometers, their principles of operation, and the advantages and disadvantages of each type are presented in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 describes the design and development of our prototype resistive glass DTIMS. A detailed description of the IMS hardware, including the ion sources, custom-built control computer, pulsing electronics, data acquisition system, and the timing schemes developed to operate the instrument in standalone DTIMS, multiplexed DTIMS, and IM-MS mode, are presented. Chapter 3 presents an initial characterization of the performance of a prototype resistive glass DTIMS under a wide range of instrumental parameters and also characterizes the radial ion distribution of the ions in the drift region of the spectrometer. Chapter 4 addresses the lack of sensitivity in DTIMS and explores ion trapping and multiplexing methods, introduces the principles of multiplexing and describes an extended multiplexing approach that encompasses arbitrary binary ion injection waveforms with variable duty cycles. Chapter 5 presents a detailed theoretical and experimental study of the separation power of our DTIMS and presents an evaluation of the field homogeneity and the performance of the ion gate.