© 2004, AAAS
Typical setup of a desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) experiment, in which samples are nebulized directly from a surface by a spray of charged droplets. Researchers hope using the technique in such applications as field-site forensics will reduce sample-handling problems that can call results into question.
Scientists at Purdue University, led by Graham Cooks, professor of analytical chemistry, recently reported a novel method for processing samples for mass spectrometry (MS) analysis.1 More than just a technological tweaking, it's an elegantly simple innovation that, MS experts say, could make mass spectrometers invaluable tools for applications ranging from field-site forensics to drug design to bomb detection.
"They've done something that maybe the rest of us, if we'd been half-smart, could've done," chuckles Fred McLafferty, a professor emeritus of chemistry at Cornell University and a long-time MS practitioner. "And I admire them more for that."
Historically, measuring the mass of ions ...
