Researchers 3D printed a miniature ionizer, a key component of a mass spectrometer. Their device could someday enable an affordable, in-home mass spectrometer for health monitoring.
Mass spectrometry, a technique that can precisely identify the chemical components of a sample, could be used to monitor the health of people who suffer from chronic illnesses. For instance, a mass spectrometer can measure hormone levels in the blood of someone with hypothyroidism.
Their device, which is only a few centimeters in size, can be manufactured at scale in batches and then incorporated into a mass spectrometer using efficient, pick-and-place robotic assembly methods. Such mass production would make it cheaper than typical ionizers that often require manual labor, need expensive hardware to interface with the mass spectrometer, or must be built in a semiconductor clean room.
Most liquid ionizers do this using electrospray, which involves applying a high voltage to a liquid sample and then firing a thin jet of charged particles into the mass spectrometer. The more ionized particles in the spray, the more accurate the measurements will be. Then, the printed emitters undergo an electropolishing step that sharpens it. Finally, each device is coated in zinc oxide nanowires which give the emitter a level of porosity that enables it to effectively filter and transport liquids.One possible problem that impacts electrospray emitters is the evaporation that can occur to the liquid sample during operation. The solvent might vaporize and clog the emitter, so engineers typically design emitters to limit evaporation.
Because their electrode is not prone to arcing, they can safely increase the applied voltage, which results in more ionized molecules and better performance.
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