Functionalized nanoparticles and nanostructured surfaces for surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

Surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SALDI-TOF-MS) using nanoparticles (NPs) and nanostructured surfaces as the LDI-assisting nanomaterials is a soft ionization technique that features minimal fragmentation of analytes. As compared to traditional matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) using organic matrices, SALDI-MS affords several advantages, such as the ability to detect small molecules (<500 Da), easy sample preparation, low-noise background, high salt tolerance, and fast data collection without the use of an organic matrix. The performance of SALDI has been further improved recently in terms of the detection sensitivity, detection mass range from the low- to the high-mass region, a soft LDI process, the detection of both polar and nonpolar compounds, the selective detection of analytes from a complex mixture using functionalized NPs, and various applications, including imaging mass spectrometry. This review summarizes recent developments pertaining to various NPs and nanostructured surfaces for SALDI-MS.