The Chemistry of Paper in Paper Spray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

There are many rapidly evolving technologies that use simple papers as a surface for chemical reactions and detection of molecules. One example of this application is the use of paper as a surface for ionization and introduction of compounds into mass spectrometry. The current work was designed to investigate mechanisms of interaction between the paper and analytes using mass spectrometry as the detection instrument. Standard compounds with different sizes were used in this study. Factors investigated include the effects of the paper geometry (5 mm) and position (tp=90º) were found to be optimal. The role of atmospheric water and the effects of paper porosity were affected the signals of the tested compounds. Investigations of the interaction of standard solutions with the paper surface indicated that atmospheric water is required for ionization. Up to three water molecules were detected in association with the analytes indicating that the presence of some water is required. In addition, this study showed the potential of silicon dioxide nanoparticles for eluting the standards compound from the paper surface. The impact of trace elements in the commercial papers and the interactions between the paper cellulose with different classes of analytes was investigated.