Costa C, van Es E M, Sears P, Bunch J, Palitsin Vladimir, Cooper H, Bailey M J
Ion Beam Centre, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, UK.
National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 0LW, UK.
Forensic Sci Int Synerg. 2019 Aug 27;1:214-220. doi: 10.1016/j.fsisyn.2019.07.009. eCollection 2019.
Paper spray mass spectrometry is a rapid and sensitive tool for explosives detection but has so far only been demonstrated using high resolution mass spectrometry, which bears too high a cost for many practical applications. Here we explore the potential for paper spray to be implemented in field applications with portable mass spectrometry. This involved (a) replacing the paper substrate with a swabbing material (which we call "swab spray") for compatibility with standard collection materials; (b) collection of explosives from surfaces; (c) an exploration of interferences within a ± 0.5 z window; and (d) demonstration of the use of high-field assisted waveform ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS) for enhanced selectivity. We show that paper and Nomex® are viable collection materials, with Nomex providing cleaner spectra and therefore greater potential for integration with portable mass spectrometers. We show that sensitive detection using swab spray will require a mass spectrometer with a mass resolving power of 4000 or more. We show that by coupling the swab spray ionisation source with FAIMS, it is possible to reduce background interferences, thereby facilitating the use of a low resolving power (e.g. quadrupole) mass spectrometer.
纸喷雾质谱法是一种用于爆炸物检测的快速且灵敏的工具，但迄今为止仅在高分辨率质谱中得到验证，而这对于许多实际应用来说成本过高。在此，我们探索了纸喷雾与便携式质谱联用应用于现场检测的潜力。这包括：（a）用擦拭材料（我们称之为“擦拭喷雾”）替代纸质基底，以便与标准采集材料兼容；（b）从表面采集爆炸物；（c）在±0.5 z窗口内探索干扰情况；（d）展示使用高场辅助波形离子迁移谱仪（FAIMS）提高选择性。我们表明，纸张和Nomex®都是可行的采集材料，Nomex能提供更纯净的谱图，因此与便携式质谱仪集成的潜力更大。我们表明，使用擦拭喷雾进行灵敏检测需要质量分辨率为4000或更高的质谱仪。我们还表明，通过将擦拭喷雾电离源与FAIMS联用，可以减少背景干扰，从而便于使用低分辨率（如四极杆）质谱仪。
