A high-frequency electrospray driven by gas volume charges

Abstract

High-frequency (>10kHz) ac electrospray is shown to eject volatile dielectric liquid drops by an entirely different mechanism from dc sprays. The steady dc Taylor conic tip is absent and continuous spraying of submicron drops is replaced by individual dynamic pinchoff events involving the entire drop. We attribute this spraying mechanism to a normal Maxwell force produced by an undispersed plasma cloud in front of the meniscus that produces a visible glow at the spherical tip. The volume charge within the cloud is formed by electron-induced gas ionization of the evaporated liquid and produces a large normal field that is much higher than the nominal applied field such that drop ejection occurs at a voltage (at high frequencies) that is as much as ten times lower than that for dc sprays. The ejection force is sensitive to the liquid properties (but not its electrolyte composition), the ac frequency and trace amounts of inert gases, which are believed to catalyze the ionization reactions. As electroneutral drops are ejected, due to the large (>100) ratio between individual drop ejection time and the ac frequency, this mechanism can produce large (microns) electroneutral drops at relatively low voltages.