Abstract
Electromembrane ion sources are considered as potential techniques for direct mass spectrometric sampling from ambient conditions. Interfacing of a time-of-flight mass spectrometer by means of a poly(ethylene terephthalate) track membrane requires investigation of the thermally activated processes involved. In this study, we directly attempt substantiating an activation-like performance of such track membrane-mediated interfaces. A number of KCl/glycerol solution samples were tested. A wide range of fixed, externally applied, potential drops was covered. For the charge extraction processes studied, we observe and discuss an activation term, exp(-ΔF/kBT), with a free-energy barrier ΔF = ΔF0 - ΔFΦ. The potential drop-dependent ΔFΦ, was found to be sensitive to the varying salt concentration.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2213-2217 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Analytical Chemistry |
Volume | 70 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Jun 1998 |
Externally published | Yes |