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Soft Cluster-Induced Desorption for mass spectrometry of polymeric materials

Polymeric materials are successfully employed in organic optoelectronic electronic devices. As the detailed molecular properties of the polymer molecules determine the electrical and optical properties of these devices, soft characterization of the employed materials is a crucial step for both research and production purposes.

In this context, Desorption/Ionization induced by Neutral SO2 Clusters (DINeC) of polystyrene oligomers was investigated with respect to application in mass spectrometry. DINeC is an extremely soft desorption method which relies on the efficient dissolvation of surface-adsorbed analytes in the shattering SO2 clusters, which serve as a transient matrix during the desorption process. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the process revealed that even in the case of the nonpolar polystyrene molecules cluster-induced desorption proceeds via dissolvation in the polar clusters (left). Clear peak progressions corresponding to intact polystyrene molecules were observed in the mass spectra (right), no fragmentation was detected. For short-chain polystyrene molecules, reference mass distributions of the substance were reproduced with good agreement. A reduced desorption efficiency for longer-chain polystyrene molecules was attributed to a stronger entanglement of the larger polystyrene molecules.

Publication: P. Schneider, F. Verloh, and M. Dürr, J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 33, 832 (2022). DOI: 10.1021/jasms.2c00021

This picture was submitted by Dr. Pascal Schneider and Prof. Dr. Michael Dürr.

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