A team from the Chemistry Institute at the Campinas State University (IQ-UNICAMP) developed an extremely simple and versatile ionization source that can be used in conventional mass spectrometers and portable spectrometers as well. Designed from a simple surgery catheter, an injection needle, a can of compressed air and silica capillary tubes, the source cost is minimal. Additionally, it does not require electricity, lasers, pumps, cylinders or large accessories and can be used for solid and liquid sample analysis. “We followed the principles of simplicity and frugality,” says chemist Mark Eberlin, the founder and coordinator of the IQ ThoMSon Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, where the invention was created. The minimalist design of the source, which can be used to analyze solid and liquid samples, was patented by the University of São Paulo and supported by FAPESP. The article describing the new device was on the cover of the Analyst scientific magazine by the Royal Society of Chemistry, England, on June 7of this year.
Republish
Print issue
Current | Past
