TY - JOUR A1 - You, Yi A1 - Song, L. A1 - Young, M.D. A1 - van der Wielen, M. A1 - Evans-Nguyen, T. A1 - Riedel, Jens A1 - Shelley, J.T. T1 - Unsupervised Reconstruction of Analyte-Specific Mass Spectra Based on Time-Domain Morphology with a Modified Cross-Correlation Approach JF - Analytical Chemistry N2 - Concomitant species that appear at the same or very similar times in a mass-spectral analysis can clutter a spectrum because of the coexistence of many analyte-related ions (e.g., molecular ions, adducts, fragments). One method to extract ions stemming from the same origin is to exploit the chemical information encoded in the time domain, where the individual temporal appearances inside the complex structures of chronograms or chromatograms differ with respect to analytes. By grouping ions with very similar or identical time-domain structures, single-component mass spectra can be reconstructed, which are much easier to interpret and are library-searchable. While many other approaches address similar objectives through the Pearson’s correlation coefficient, we explore an alternative method based on a modified cross-correlation algorithm to compute a metric that describes the degree of similarity between features inside any two ion chronograms. Furthermore, an automatic workflow was devised to be capable of categorizing thousands of mass-spectral peaks into different groups within a few seconds. This approach was tested with direct mass-spectrometric analyses as well as with a simple, fast, and poorly resolved LC–MS analysis. Single-component mass spectra were extracted in both cases and were identified based on accurate mass and a mass-spectral library search. KW - Mass-Spectral Reconstruction KW - Mass Spectrometry KW - Correlation PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.0c04396 VL - 93 IS - 12 SP - 5009 EP - 5014 PB - ACS AN - OPUS4-52467 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - 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 - TY - JOUR A1 - Bierstedt, Andreas A1 - Warschat, Carsten A1 - You, Yi A1 - Rurack, Knut A1 - Riedel, Jens T1 - Stimulated Raman scattering by intracavity mixing of nanosecond laser excitation and fluorescence in acoustically levitated droplets JF - Analytical Methods N2 - Raman spectroscopy is becoming a commonly used, powerful tool for structural elucidation and species identification of small liquid samples, e.g. in droplet-based digital microfluidic devices. Due to the low scattering cross sections and the temporal restrictions dictated by the droplet flow, however, it depends on amplification strategies which often come at a cost. In the case of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), this can be an enhanced susceptibility towards memory effects and cross talk, whereas resonant and/or stimulated Raman techniques require higher instrumental sophistication, such as tunable lasers or the high electromagnetic field strengths which are typically provided by femtosecond lasers. Here, an alternative instrumental approach is discussed, in which stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is achieved using the single fixed wavelength output of an inexpensive diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) nanosecond laser. The required field strengths are realized by an effective light trapping in a resonator mode inside the interrogated droplets, while the resonant light required for the stimulation is provided by the fluorescence signal of an admixed laser dye. To elucidate the underlying optical processes, proof-of-concept experiments are conducted on acoustically levitated droplets, mimicking a highly reproducible and stable digital fluidic system. By using isotope-labeled compounds, the assignment of the emitted radiation as Raman scattering is firmly corroborated. A direct comparison reveals an amplification of the usually weak spontaneous Stokes emission by up to five orders of magnitude. Further investigation of the optical power dependence reveals the resulting gain to depend on the intensity of both, the input laser fluence and the concentration of the admixed fluorophore, leaving SRS as the only feasible amplification mechanism. While in this study stable large droplets have been studied, the underlying principles also hold true for smaller droplets, in which case significantly lower laser pulse energy is required. Since DPSS lasers are readily available with high repetition rates, the presented detection strategy bears a huge potential for fast online identification and characterization routines in digital microfluidic devices. KW - Ultrasonic levitation KW - Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D0AY01504K VL - 12 IS - 42 SP - 5046 EP - 5054 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-51566 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - You, Yi A1 - Bierstedt, Andreas A1 - Riedel, Jens T1 - Spatial, temporal, and spectral characterization and kinetic investigations of a high repetition-rate laser-induced micro-plasma in air JF - Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry N2 - Advances in laser-induced plasmas have enabled various rapid and simple analytical applications. Especially, their uses in the analyses of condensed-phase samples have drawn significant attention in the past few decades. Depending on the laser energy per pulse, various analytical goals can be achieved. Laser-induced airborne plasmas allow direct analysis of species in ambient air. Importantly, all of these applications are based on a fundamental understanding of the laser–medium interaction. Recent developments of diode-pumped solid-state lasers offer an alternative to conventional powerful, yet bulky lasers, which can specifically operate at high Repetition rates. Although these lasers deliver much lower power per pulse (mJ compared to mJ), the outstanding repetition rates offer significant improvement to meet statistical needs in some cases. In the present work, a mJ-laserinduced airborne plasma was characterized through optical emission analysis. By using a ns-timegated image detector coupled with specific bandpass filters, spatially, temporally, and spectrally resolved plasma images were recorded. Compared to conventional mJ-laser-induced plasmas, the one induced by mJ-lasers demonstrated unique features during its evolution. Specifically, measurements of the distribution of ionic and atomic species revealed distinctive energy/matter transfer processes during early ignition of the plasma. Meanwhile, dynamic investigations suggested subsequent matter transport in the later stage. KW - Laser-induced plasma KW - Plasma KW - DPSS-laser PY - 2019 UR - https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2019/ja/c9ja00163h DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/C9JA00163H SN - 0267-9477 VL - 34 IS - 8 SP - 1618 EP - 1629 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - London AN - OPUS4-48622 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - van Wasen, S. A1 - You, Yi A1 - Beck, S. A1 - Riedel, Jens A1 - Volmer, D. T1 - Quantitative Analysis of Pharmaceutical Drugs Using a Combination of Acoustic Levitation and High Resolution Mass Spectrometry JF - Analytical Chemistry N2 - A combination of acoustic levitation, laser vaporization, and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI-MS) is presented in this study that enabled sensitive analysis of pharmaceutical drugs from an aqueous sample matrix. An unfocused pulsed infrared laser provided contactless sample desorption from the droplets trapped inside an acoustic levitator by activation of the OH stretching band of aqueous and alcoholic solvents. Subsequent atmospheric pressure chemical ionization was used between the levitated droplet and the mass spectrometer for postionization. In this setup, the unfocused laser gently desorbed the analytes by applying very mild repulsive forces. Detailed plume formation studies by temporally resolved schlieren experiments were used to characterize the liquid gas transition in this process. In addition, the role of different additives and solvent composition was examined during the ionization process. The analytical application of the technique and the proof-of-concept for quantitative analysis were demonstrated by the determination of selected pharmaceutical drugs in aqueous matrix with limits of quantification at the lower nanomolar level and a linear dynamic range of 3–4 orders of magnitude. KW - Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization KW - Ultrasonic Levitation KW - Mass Spectrometry KW - Laser Desorption PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.1c00762 VL - 93 IS - 15 SP - 6019 EP - 6024 PB - ACS AN - OPUS4-52470 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kalmbach, J. A1 - Wang, Cui A1 - You, Yi A1 - Förster, C. A1 - Schubert, H. A1 - Heinze, K. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Seitz, M. T1 - Near-IR to near-IR upconversion luminescence in molecular chromium ytterbium salts JF - Angewandte Chemie - International Edition N2 - Upconversion photoluminescence in hetero-oligonuclear metal complex architectures featuring organic ligands is an interesting but still rarely observed phenomenon, despite its great potential from a basic research and application perspective. In this context, a new photonic material consisting of molecular chromium(III) and ytterbium(III) complex Ions was developed that exhibits excitation-power density-dependent cooperative sensitization of the chromium-centered 2E/2T1 phosphorescence at approximately 775 nm after excitation of the ytterbium band 2F7/2!2F5/2 at approximately 980 nm in the solid state at ambient temperature. The upconversion process is insensitive to atmospheric oxygen and can be observed in the presence of water molecules in the crystal lattice. KW - Upconversion KW - Lanthanide KW - Photoluminescence KW - Quantum yield KW - Photophysics KW - Lifetime KW - Sensor KW - NIR KW - Cr(III) KW - Yb(III) complex KW - Crystal KW - Triplet-triplet annihilation KW - Sensitization KW - Light harvesting PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-512619 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202007200 SN - 1433-7851 SN - 1521-3773 VL - 59 IS - 42 SP - 18804 EP - 18808 PB - Wiley CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-51261 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - van Wasen, S. A1 - You, Yi A1 - Beck, S. A1 - Riedel, Jens A1 - Volmer, D. A. T1 - Miniaturized Protein Digestion Using Acoustic Levitation with Online High Resolution Mass Spectrometry JF - Analytical Chemistry N2 - The combination of acoustically levitated droplets, mid-IR laser evaporation, and subsequent post-ionization by secondary electrospray ionization was applied for monitoring the enzymatic digestion of various proteins. Acoustically levitated droplets are an ideal, wall-free model reactor, readily allowing compartmentalized microfluidic trypsin digestions. Time-resolved interrogation of the droplets yielded real-time information on the progress of the reaction and thus provided insights into reaction kinetics. After 30 min of digestion in the acoustic levitator, the obtained protein sequence coverages were identical to the reference overnight digestions. Importantly, our results clearly demonstrate that the applied experimental setup can be used for the real-time investigation of chemical reactions. Furthermore, the described methodology only uses a fraction of the typically applied amounts of solvent, analyte, and trypsin. Thus, the results exemplify the use of acoustic levitation as a green analytical chemistry alternative to the currently used batch reactions. KW - Acoustic levitation KW - Protein analysis KW - Mass spectrometry PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.2c05334 VL - 95 SP - 4190 EP - 4195 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-57053 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - You, Yi A1 - Danischewski, Julia A1 - Molnar, Brian A1 - Riedel, Jens A1 - Shelley, Jacob T1 - Manipulation of Gaseous Ions with Acoustic Fields at Atmospheric Pressure JF - Journal of the American Chemical Society N2 - The ability to controllably move gaseous ions is an essential aspect of ion-based spectrometry (e.g., mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry) as well as materials processing. At higher pressures, ion motion is largely governed by diffusion and multiple collisions with neutral gas molecules. Thus, high-pressure ion optics based on electrostatics require large fields, radio frequency drives, complicated geometries, and/or partially transmissive grids that become contaminated. Here, we demonstrate that low-power standing acoustic waves can be used to guide, block, focus, and separate beams of ions akin to electrostatic ion optics. Ions preferentially travel through the static-pressure regions (“nodes”) while neutral gas does not appear to be impacted by the acoustic field structure and continues along a straight trajectory. This acoustic ion manipulation (AIM) approach has broad implications for ion manipulation techniques at high pressure, while expanding our fundamental understanding of the behavior of ions in gases. KW - Ion mobility spectrometry KW - Acoustic KW - Mass spectrometry PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-600704 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c01224 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-60070 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Riedel, Jens A1 - Hufgard, Josefin A1 - You, Yi T1 - LIBS at high duty-cycles: effect of repetition rate and temporal width on the excitation laser pulses JF - Frontiers in Physics N2 - Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is becoming a more mature technology every year with new variants such as laser ablation molecular isotopic spectrometry, reheating by various discharge techniques, and multiple pulse excitation schemes, in which sometimes lasers of different pulse lengths are used. However, lasers with inherent parameters like pulse length and repetition rate are still almost exclusively employed. Recent years have witnessed the advent of novel high-repetition-rate laser concepts for machining processes, like welding, milling, and engraving. Here, a comprehensive study of single-pulse LIBS spectra of a single aluminum target is presented to showcase the applicability of flexible high duty-cycle master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) lasers. Although traditional flashlamp-pumped Fabry–Pérot lasers only permit a variation in the pulse energy and are operated at very low duty-cycles, MOPA lasers add repetition rate and pulse length as variable parameters. A thorough analysis of the temporal plasma behavior revealed the emission dynamic to closely match the excitation laser pulse pattern. An aluminum sample’s spectral response was shown to be significantly impacted by variations in both rate and length. Although the spectral emission strength of the elemental lines of Al, Sr, and Ca all peaked at slightly different parameter settings, the strongest impact was found on the relative abundance of molecular AlO bands. Unlike in previous laser ablation molecular isotopic spectrometry (LAMIS) publications, the latter could be readily detected with a good intensity and well-resolved spectral features without any temporal gating of the detector. This finding, together with the fact that MOPA lasers are both inexpensive and dependable, makes for a promising combination for future studies including the detection of diatomic band structures. KW - Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy KW - LIBS PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-583300 DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2023.1241533 SN - 2296-424X VL - 11 SP - 1 EP - 8 AN - OPUS4-58330 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bierstedt, Andreas A1 - You, Yi A1 - van Wasen, Sebastian A1 - Bosc-Bierne, Gaby A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Riedel, Jens T1 - Laser-Induced Microplasma as an Ambient Ionization Approach for the Mass-Spectrometric Analysis of Liquid Samples JF - Analytical Chemistry N2 - An airborne high repetition rate laser-induced plasma was applied as a versatile ambient ionization source for mass-spectrometric determinations of polar and nonpolar analytes in solution. The laser plasma was sustained between a home-built pneumatic nebulizer and the inlet capillary of an Orbitrap mass spectrometer. To maintain stable conditions in the droplet-rich spray environment, the plasma was directly fed by the fundamental output (λ = 1064 nm) of a current state-of-the-art diode-pumped solid-state laser. Ionization by the laser-driven plasma resulted in signals of intact analyte ions of several chemical categories. The analyte ions were found to be fully desolvated since no further increase in ion signal was observed upon heating of the inlet capillary. Due to the electroneutrality of the plasma, both positive and negative analyte ions could be formed simultaneously without altering the operational parameters of the ion source. While, typically, polar analytes with pronounced gas phase basicities worked best, nonpolar and amphoteric compounds were also detected. The latter were detected with lower ion signals and were prone to a certain degree of fragmentation induced during the ionization process. All the described attests the laser-induced microplasma by a good performance in terms of stability, robustness, sensitivity, and general applicability as a self-contained ion source for the liquid sample introduction. KW - Laser KW - Laser-induced plasma KW - Ambient ionization KW - Mass Spectrometry PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.9b00329 SN - 0003-2700 VL - 91 IS - 9 SP - 5922 EP - 5928 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC, USA AN - OPUS4-47939 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -