The Use of a Beveled Porous-Polypropylene Hollow Fiber for Liquid- Liquid Microextraction in Paper Spray- Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

The use of a porous, hollow polypropylene fiber for sample microextraction in paper spray-mass spectrometry is described. After the microextraction process, one of the end of the hollow fiber was cut into a bevel-shaped, and then used directly for electrospray ionization. Since analytes can be extracted from a very dilute solution using this liquid-liquid extraction process, the limit of detection can be dramatically improved, compared to an ordinary paperspray mass spectrometry in which a triangular shaped piece of chromatography paper is used. Detailed information and the use the technique in the analysis of a urine sample are reported.