Tian Yunshuo, Meng Yifan, Zare Richard N
College of Letter and Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Molecules. 2025 Jun 11;30(12):2546. doi: 10.3390/molecules30122546.
We present a simple and cost-effective method for generating a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma using a commercially available ozone generator power supply. By coupling the plasma source to the extended ion transfer tube of an ambient mass spectrometer, we achieved stable plasma discharge, enabling the post-ionization of nonpolar compounds during the electrospray ionization process. Using this approach, we successfully detected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), halogenated PAHs (HPAHs), and other nonpolar pollutants in liquid mixtures, with detection limits on the order of 10 ng/mL. In fish exposed to HPAHs, both polar metabolites and lipids, as well as the nonpolar pollutant 1-chloronaphthalene, were simultaneously detected. Notably, 1-chloronaphthalene accumulated at the highest concentration in gill tissue. This straightforward plasma-assisted technique offers a reliable strategy for expanding the detection capabilities of electrospray mass spectrometry to include nonpolar molecules.
我们展示了一种使用市售臭氧发生器电源来产生介质阻挡放电(DBD)等离子体的简单且经济高效的方法。通过将等离子体源与常压质谱仪的延长离子传输管相耦合,我们实现了稳定的等离子体放电,从而能够在电喷雾电离过程中对非极性化合物进行后电离。使用这种方法,我们成功地检测了液体混合物中的多环芳烃(PAHs)、卤代多环芳烃(HPAHs)以及其他非极性污染物,检测限约为10 ng/mL。在暴露于HPAHs的鱼类中,同时检测到了极性代谢物和脂质以及非极性污染物1-氯萘。值得注意的是,1-氯萘在鳃组织中积累的浓度最高。这种简单直接的等离子体辅助技术为扩展电喷雾质谱的检测能力以涵盖非极性分子提供了一种可靠的策略。