TY - JOUR A1 - Song, L. A1 - You, Yi A1 - Evans-Nguyen, T. T1 - Surface acoustic wave nebulization with atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization for enhanced ion signal JF - Analytical Chemistry N2 - Many ambient desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (ADI-MS) techniques rely critically on thermal desorption. Meanwhile, the analyte classes that are successfully studied by any particular ADI-MS methods are strongly dependent on the type of ionization source. Generally, spraybased ionization sources favor polar analytes, whereas plasmabased sources can be used for more hydrophobic analytes and are more suitable for molecules with small molar masses. In the present work, classic atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization (APCI) is used. To provide improved desorption performance for APCI, a surface acoustic wave nebulization (SAWN) device was implemented to convert liquid analytes into fine airborne particles. Compared to conventional SAWN that is used solely as an ionization source for liquid samples, the coupling of SAWN and APCI significantly improves ion signal by up to 4 orders of magnitude, reaching comparable ion abundances to those of electrospray ionization (ESI). Additionally, this coupling also extends the applicable mass range of an APCI source, conventionally known for the ionization of small molecules <500 Da. Herein, we discuss cursory evidence of this applicability to a variety of analytes including both polar and nonpolar small molecules and novel peptides that mimic biomolecules upward of 1000 Da. Observed species are similar to ESI-derived ions including doubly charged analyte ions despite presumably different charging mechanisms. SAWN−APCI coupling may thus involve more nuanced ionization pathways in comparison to other ADI approaches. KW - Nebulization KW - Ionization KW - Atomspheric-Pressure KW - Acoustic PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.8b03927 SN - 0003-2700 SN - 1520-6882 VL - 91 IS - 1 SP - 912 EP - 918 PB - American Chemical Society AN - OPUS4-47463 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -