Session: Parallel session 1 - environmental analysis

Cold-Spray Ionization of Deep Eutectic Solvents as Preliminary Step in the Design of Green Gas Sensors

Introduction

In mass spectrometry, cold-spray ionization is described as a variant of the electrospray ionization source acting at low temperature. The very low temperature of the solution infusing the source metal capillary maintains the assemblies of non-covalent complexes or favor the aggregation of analyzed molecules during the spray formation. These properties of cold spray ionization is used for identifying the molecular association of Deep Eutectic Solvents. The organization of this new generation of green solvents is based on non-covalent associations between a hydrogen bond acceptor and a hydrogen-bond donor.

Methodology

By using the thermometer ion method, we have first evaluated the decreasing in temperature that a cold-spray source induces on the gaseous ions by regards to an electrospray source both in positive and in negative ion modes, involving new class of thermometer ions for the later.[1]

Results

We have shown that cold-spray can be suitable for characterizing the nature, the organization and the relative stabilities either synthetic deep eutectic solvents associating in one hand choline chlorides with urea or thiourea and others natural deep eutectic solvents.[2] The properties of these green materials highlighted by mass spectrometry, have been used for the design of the first microwave-based green gas sensors presenting a viscous sensitive layer.[3]  

Conclusion

The microwave response of such a device to HCl vapor exposure is also presented, for illustrating the implication of mass spectrometry in a workflow of analytical chemistry leading from the evaluation of the structure/properties relationship, to the design of green gas sensors.[4]

References

[1] J Mass Spectrom. 2023;58(11):e4977.

[2] J Mass Spectrom. 2021;56:e4725.

[3] French Patent, FR23/07528, 2023.

[4] RSC Sustainability, 2024, 2, 1067-1073.