Online deposition of nano-aerosol for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

An online nano-aerosol sample deposition method for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry is described in which matrix and analyte particles between 50 and 500 nm are aerodynamically focused onto a tight spot, ca. 200 microm in diameter, on the target plate under vacuum. MALDI analysis of the target is performed without additional sample preparation. The method is evaluated with insulin as the analyte and alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) as the matrix. Two preparation modes are compared with conventional dried-droplet deposition: mixture deposition where a single layer is deposited consisting of particles that contain both matrix and analyte, and layered deposition where an underlayer of matrix particles and an overlayer of analyte particles are deposited separately. Desalting is performed by adding ammonium sulfate to the solution used to generate the matrix aerosol. With mixture deposition, the optimum matrix-to-analyte mole ratio is about 500:1 compared with 5000:1 for the conventional dried-droplet method. With layered deposition, the thicknesses of the matrix and analyte layers are more important determinants of the analyte signal intensity than the matrix-to-analyte mole ratio. Analyte signal intensities are independent of matrix layer thickness above 200 nm, and the optimum analyte signal is obtained with an analyte layer thickness of about 100 nm.