Abstract

In this paper, we are proposing a robust tool which is capable of m ε asuring the size and elemental composition of submicron particles from twenty to several hundreds nanometers at the same time, i.e., named Single Particle Mass Spectrometer (SPMS). The home-made SPMS employs a laser ablation/multi-photon ionization method to tear a nanoparticle into the constituent elemental ions. One thing different from the conventional Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ATOFMS) is the power of the ionization laser. Much strong laser used in this work makes it possible to generate elemental ions rather than molecular ions from a nanoparticle. Also the use of high power laser may guarantee a complete ionization of a particle, which was confirmed by the existence of multiple charged ions. If a particle is evaporated/ionized completely and detected through electric field-free TOF tube without any loss, we can extract the original particle volume from the measured total ion numbers. Collecting a number of particles mass spectra, we get a database of size and elemental composition of nanoparticles, with which we may take a look into any kinds of chemical reaction occurring at nanoscale. Several issues related to size estimation by SPMS will be discussed.

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