Is particle beam an up-to-date LC-MS interface? State of the art and perspectives

Definitions of terms relating to mass spectrometry (IUPAC Recommendations 2013)

“…After passing through a skimmer that acts as a momentum separator, the beam impinges on a heated surface to form ions through chemical ionization at the surface or ionization of the resulting vapour in a chemical ionization or electron ionization source. From [256,257].…”

Peer Reviewed: Electron Ionization for LC/MS

“…EI is influenced neither by polarity nor by mobile-phase composition, especially once all the solvents have been removed from the ion source. Although the unbeatable identification capability of EI is precious for detecting unknowns or for confirmation, its accuracy can be compromised by solvent vapor residue from the mobile phase (7,8). EI does suffer from limited ionization efficiency; however, picogram-level sensitivity is commonly obtained.…”

High‐Performance Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry Methods in Pesticide Analysis

“…The breakthrough of the PB interface is represented by the conversion of the HPLC effluent into an aerosol of high-surface-area droplets and, after a rapid evaporation, into a beam of solute particles. Even though the development of PB took advantage of several detailed implementations involving different aspects of its functioning, 16 it still relies on three key components ( The production of a fine spray can be accomplished by either a pneumatic or a thermal aerosol generator designed to accommodate mobile phase flow rates up to 0.5 mL min 1 . A dispersion gas, usually helium, is driven coaxially to the liquid jet.…”

“…The same LC/ES system was used for the analysis of carbamate insecticides at the picograms per gram level in fruits and vegetables, operating in the PI mode with a skimmer cone voltage of 30 V and time-scheduled SIM. 16 Atrazine and its degradation products and sulfonylurea herbicides in water were also determined with the same instrumentation. 44,45 …”