WO2014127683A1 - 离子产生装置以及离子产生方法 - Google Patents

离子产生装置以及离子产生方法 Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2014127683A1
WO2014127683A1 PCT/CN2014/000176 CN2014000176W WO2014127683A1 WO 2014127683 A1 WO2014127683 A1 WO 2014127683A1 CN 2014000176 W CN2014000176 W CN 2014000176W WO 2014127683 A1 WO2014127683 A1 WO 2014127683A1
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Prior art keywords
ion
generating apparatus
ion generating
low pressure
ions
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French (fr)
Inventor
张小强
孙文剑
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Shimadzu Corp
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Shimadzu Corp
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    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01JELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J49/00Particle spectrometers or separator tubes
    • H01J49/02Details
    • H01J49/06Electron- or ion-optical arrangements
    • H01J49/062Ion guides
    • H01J49/065Ion guides having stacked electrodes, e.g. ring stack, plate stack
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01JELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J49/00Particle spectrometers or separator tubes
    • H01J49/004Combinations of spectrometers, tandem spectrometers, e.g. MS/MS, MSn
    • H01J49/0045Combinations of spectrometers, tandem spectrometers, e.g. MS/MS, MSn characterised by the fragmentation or other specific reaction
    • H01J49/0072Combinations of spectrometers, tandem spectrometers, e.g. MS/MS, MSn characterised by the fragmentation or other specific reaction by ion/ion reaction, e.g. electron transfer dissociation, proton transfer dissociation
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01JELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J49/00Particle spectrometers or separator tubes
    • H01J49/02Details
    • H01J49/10Ion sources; Ion guns
    • H01J49/16Ion sources; Ion guns using surface ionisation, e.g. field-, thermionic- or photo-emission
    • H01J49/165Electrospray ionisation

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an ion generating device and an ion generating method. Background technique
  • the limiting factors for the sensitivity of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry are mainly derived from the following aspects:
  • the ion generation process involves the formation of spray droplets, evaporation, and Coulomb explosion. During this process, more droplets can be accumulated by adjusting electrochemical parameters, surface tension, droplet radius, and the like.
  • the most important limiting factor in this process is the ability to adequately desolvate the droplets to "release" the gaseous ions.
  • the second is the huge ion transmission loss.
  • the usual method is to introduce a high-flow, high-temperature atomizing gas to assist the desolvation process of the droplets.
  • a high-flow, high-temperature atomizing gas for example, U.S. Patent No. 6,759,650, U.S. Patent No. 0,309,795, etc., but high flow rate of atomizing gas brings high cost, and high temperature gas causes evaporation or even boiling of some volatile solvents.
  • a smaller size tip can be used to reduce the area of the spray zone, which is actually to reduce the flow rate of the liquid during the spray, which can increase the proportion of ions entering the interface, which is called nanoliter spray. method. It is also possible to use larger diameter capillaries, but at the same time put forward higher requirements for the vacuum pump of the latter stage.
  • a method using a multi-nanoliter needle and a plurality of capillary interfaces is proposed in U.S. Patent No. 6,803,565, which is actually a combination of the first two methods. A more efficient method is to perform electrospray directly at low pressure.
  • US patent U.S. Patent No. 5,738, 002 U.S. Patent No.
  • This method can reduce the loss of electrospray ion on the vacuum interface, and at the same time reduce the influence of neutral noise to improve the sensitivity of the electrospray ion source.
  • the present invention provides an ion generating apparatus, comprising: a cavity having a low pressure environment below atmospheric pressure; a low piezoelectric spray ion source located at one end of the cavity, In the low-pressure environment, an electrospray containing ions is generated along a spray direction; an ion guiding device extending in the axial direction thereof, the ion guiding device is located in the cavity, and is divided into electric cells in the radial direction thereof.
  • the isolated chamber has two parts, a bias voltage is applied between at least two portions of the electrically isolated, the bias voltage shifts the direction of ion transport away from the spray direction; and an ion outlet located at the chamber wall of the chamber Upper, the ion outlet exits the ion in an ion extraction direction, the ion introduction The exit direction deviates from the spray direction.
  • the invention also proposes an ion generation method in an atmosphere below atmospheric pressure, the method comprising: a step of generating ions from a low-voltage electrospray ionization source in a low-pressure environment below atmospheric pressure; and in the low-pressure environment, The generated ions are deflected by an ion guiding device to which a bias voltage is applied, the bias voltage being applied to at least two portions of the ion guiding device that are electrically isolated in the radial direction.
  • the present invention has the following advantages:
  • the invention can greatly reduce the loss of ions at atmospheric pressure and vacuum interface, and improve the ion transmission efficiency. Most ions generated by electrospray can enter mass spectrometry. Analytical device
  • the present invention can reduce the interference of neutral noise (including spray droplets and environmental noise) and improve the sensitivity of the instrument.
  • Fig. 1 is a view showing a typical configuration of an ion generating apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 3 is a view showing a typical configuration of an ion generating apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing a modification of the second embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 5 is a schematic view showing a modification of each embodiment shown in Figs.
  • Fig. 6 is a view showing a typical configuration of an ion generating apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. detailed description
  • FIG. 1 A typical structure of the ion generating apparatus of the first embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.
  • a vacuum chamber 1 is provided, the chamber having a typical gas pressure value of 1-200 torr, preferably a gas pressure value of 10 to 30 torr.
  • a low-pressure electrospray ion source 2 and an ion guiding device 3 are disposed in the vacuum chamber, and the axis of the low-pressure spray ion source 2 (i.e., the spray axis) remains substantially parallel or coincident with the geometric axis of the ion guiding device 3.
  • a typical ion guiding device 3 consists of a series of circular arrays, with adjacent rings applying RF voltages of opposite phases to form a radial constraint on the ions, and applying a DC voltage in the axial direction to drive the ions to move forward along the axis.
  • Each ring is surrounded by two segmented electrodes, and a DC bias voltage is applied between the two segment electrodes, which drives the ions off-axis and moves to the side of the ring; typically, The length ratio of the two segment electrodes of each ring is gradually changed along the axis, so that the ions are transmitted off-axis in the axial direction. At the same time, it is radially focused to better enter the lower vacuum.
  • a typical working process is that the charged droplets are generated by the low-voltage electrospray ion source 2, and the charged droplets are gradually desolventized during the flight to generate charged ions.
  • the ions enter the device 3 and are transmitted off-axis in the direction of 4 in the figure.
  • the ion outlet 18 enters the subsequent stages 6 and 7 of the ion guiding device 3 to be subjected to mass spectrometry by the mass analyzer 8; droplets that are not sufficiently desolvated, or neutral chemical noise from other sources, through a setting
  • the vacuum port 9 in the axial direction of the device 3 is evacuated by the vacuum pump outside the cavity 1 in the direction of the broken line 5 in the figure to leave the environment.
  • the device described above allows most of the ions to enter the mass spectrometry device without atmospheric pressure-vacuum interface loss, and most of the neutral noise in the process can be effectively removed, so the device can provide the theoretically highest degree of sensitivity.
  • the ion guiding device 3 may not be limited to a ring electrode array form, a multi-stage rod guiding system, a Q array guiding system, a wire electrode guiding device, a traveling wave electrode guiding device, and the like. It can be used as the ion guiding device 3 in the invention, but it is necessary to apply a radial bias voltage for the purpose of noise reduction.
  • the low-voltage electrospray ion source 2 is preferably a nanoliter spray ion source, for example, a nanoliter needle, or a microliter needle or a larger flow needle; the needle may be one or more, or even Needle array chip.
  • the low-voltage electrospray ion source 2 and the geometrical axis of the ion guiding device 3 may be parallel or coincident, or may have an angle, but the transmission efficiency may be lowered at this time, and the repulsion or guiding electrode may be added to compensate for the problem.
  • the desolvation efficiency in the low-pressure electrospray process is slightly lower than that of the larger gas pressure, so that a means for assisting the solvent removal can be further introduced to increase the amount of ion generation.
  • a heated auxiliary gas can be introduced from atmospheric pressure, which interacts with the spray droplets to accelerate the desolvation process.
  • the direction of the gas jet can be coaxial with the spray direction or at an angle.
  • Another advantage of introducing gas It is possible to locally increase the pressure at the tip of the needle and reduce the probability of discharge at the tip; also introduce a laser beam onto the spray droplets; or introduce ultrasonic waves to oscillate the spray droplets, or set a heated metal tube on the spray path, or The entire vacuum chamber is heated, and so on.
  • a lower air pressure guiding device such as a multi-stage rod or the like, may be further connected to the rear stage of the apparatus to finally introduce ions into the mass analyzer for analysis.
  • Other analytical devices such as ion mobility spectrometers, spectroscopic analyzers, etc. can also be connected.
  • the front stage of the device can be connected to a liquid chromatography, or a syringe pump or the like.
  • Fig. 2 shows a variation of the first embodiment, which shows that the path in which the spray generating ions are off-axis guided can take many forms.
  • the axis of the low-pressure spray ion source 2 is opposite to the axial direction of the ion guiding device 3 (i.e., the direction in which the axis potential is lowered), and the charged droplets have a high initial velocity after being generated from 2, and fly backward into the device 3, During the flight, the droplets are desolventized to produce charged ions. The charged ions are gradually decelerated by the axial electric field of the device 3, and the final direction is reversed.
  • the traces shown in the figure pass through the ion outlet 18 to enter the lower device 6, and the solvent is not removed.
  • Sufficient droplets and other neutral chemical noise are drawn through the vacuum port 9 along the trajectory shown by the dashed line 5 in the figure.
  • Transport of ions in this variation The direction is changed by 180 degrees, and the neutral noise can only advance in a straight line, so this way can remove the noise more thoroughly:
  • the direction of the ions from the ion guiding device 3 can also be perpendicular to the axis of 3 or The axis of the ion guiding device 3 is at an angle, which is equivalent to erecting the device 3, which not only further reduces noise, but also reduces the size of the entire instrument.
  • FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the apparatus and method.
  • an atmospheric piezoelectric spray ion source 10 is further introduced, and charged droplets and ions generated by the atmospheric piezoelectric spray ion source 10 are charged by the atmospheric pressure-vacuum interface 11 (here, a capillary tube) and the low-voltage electrospray ion source 2.
  • the droplets and ions are transmitted together through the ion guiding device 3 and are off-axis transmitted to the next stage device 6.
  • Atmospheric pressure - vacuum port 11 will cause more serious neutral noise, but due to the presence of ion guiding device 3 and vacuum port 9, neutral noise from the atmosphere into chamber 1 can be effectively removed.
  • This embodiment can be used for internal standard calibration of the mass in the mass spectrometer, and is generally used for high resolution instruments such as time-of-flight mass spectrometers.
  • the low-voltage electrospray ion source 2 can be used as the ion source of the internal standard ion, that is, the pipeline of the ion source 2 is the internal standard liquid flow instead of the analyte liquid flow, and the atmospheric piezoelectric spray ion source 10 is normally analyzed. Liquid flow.
  • this method has the following two advantages. One is to eliminate the problem of electric field interference between the sprays, so both can stabilize the spray, and this problem has been plagued by atmospheric pressure.
  • the mass correction can be omitted, and the analyte can be used only as a bimorph ion source, and can be used in a time-sharing manner.
  • the atmospheric piezoelectric spray ion source 10 can also be other atmospheric pressure ion sources, such as an atmospheric pressure chemical ion source, an atmospheric pressure photoionization source, and an atmospheric pressure direct analysis ionization source. Atmospheric piezoelectric spray ion source 10 can even produce ionized molecules without ionization. For example, a laser can desorb an analyte to produce a gaseous molecule, and then the gaseous molecule enters vacuum chamber 1 and is ionized by low-voltage electrospray ion source 2.
  • the vacuum 11 can be a capillary tube or a sampling cone or the like, and can even be an atmospheric pressure lens.
  • the interface can also be used as a solvent removal device for the low-pressure electrospray ion source 2.
  • Fig. 4 is a first modification of the second embodiment.
  • the low-pressure ion source 12 can be any ion source, such as an electrospray source, a matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization source, a chemical ionization source, a vacuum photoionization source, an electron bombardment ionization source, and the like.
  • a repeller electrode 13 or other guiding electrode may be added.
  • the low pressure ion source 12 may not be in the same vacuum chamber as the low voltage electrospray ion source 2. Typically, the low pressure ion source 12 may be located in the vacuum chamber in which the device 6 is located, which is generally suitable for low voltage electrospray ion source 2 and low pressure ions.
  • the source 12 is a different type of ion source, for example, the low-voltage electrospray ion source 2 is an electrospray ion source.
  • the low-pressure ion source 12 is an electron bombardment ionization source, and the suitable working pressures of the two are different.
  • the low pressure ion source 12 can be placed in the subsequent stage of the first stage mass analyzer, from the reverse direction into the collision cell of the cascade mass spectrometer, and from the low voltage electrospray ion source 2, and
  • the ions entering the collision cavity in the positive direction collide and dissociate to perform chemical reaction detection or to generate a cascade analysis of the daughter ions.
  • Fig. 5 is a modification of each of the above examples.
  • the ions generated by the atmospheric pressure ion source 10 enter the 3 from the reverse direction of the axial direction of the ion guiding device 3 through the atmospheric pressure-vacuum interface 11, the ions are decelerated and then reversely deflected, and the low-voltage electrospray ion source 2
  • the generated ions pass through the ion guiding device 3 and enter the next-stage device 6.
  • This variation has the advantages of the ion generating apparatus of each of the above embodiments, can be used for mass internal standard correction, and can sufficiently reduce neutral noise entering from the atmospheric environment.
  • Fig. 6 is a third embodiment of the ion generating apparatus and ion generating method of the present invention.
  • a vacuum interface 15 is added between the low-pressure spray ion source 2 and the ion guiding device 3.
  • the interface may be a sampling cone, which may be a capillary or a high-pressure ion lens.
  • the outlet of this vacuum interface is generally less than 2 mm for better focusing.
  • the low-pressure spray ion source 2 operates at a lower vacuum, such as 100-300 torr, which allows the electrospray desolvation process to be more efficient, so higher spray flow rates can be used to increase analytical throughput.
  • the ion guiding device 3 is located in another vacuum chamber 14, and the pressure of the vacuum chamber 14 can be in the range of 10-30 torr.
  • a further ion guiding device 16 can be added to the rear stage of the ion guiding device 3, which also forms an off-axis guiding structure similar to the ion guiding device 3.
  • the working pressure of the ion guiding device 16 is in the range of 1 - 3 torr. In this manner, the ion current can be continuously deflected twice, and the neutral noise caused by the air pressure difference between the vacuum chamber 14 and the ion guiding device 16 is filtered out, further improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the final output signal.

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Abstract

一种离子产生装置以及离子产生方法,特别是在较低气压下产生离子并将该离子进行偏轴传输的装置和方法。在该装置和方法中,将电喷雾离子源或其他离子源置于低于大气压的环境中,并将该低压下产生的离子通过离子导引装置进行偏轴传输以送入后级分析器进行分析,而大部分中性成分噪音在该过程中被去除。

Description

离子产生装置以及离子产生方法 技术领域
本发明涉及离子产生装置以及离子产生方法。 背景技术
自从 1984年 John Fenn发明电喷雾技术(ESI ) 以来, 由于电喷雾电离的低电离能量、 易形成多电荷离子、 易与液相色谱联用等特性, 己经成为质谱分析领域最常用的离子源。 提高电喷雾离子源区域的灵敏度, 成为该领域内重要的课题。
目前对电喷雾质谱灵敏度的限制因素, 主要来源于以下几个方面: 其一是离子产生数 较少。 离子产生过程牵涉到喷雾液滴的形成、 蒸发和库仑爆炸的过程, 该过程中可以通过 调整电化学参数、 表面张力、 液滴半径等来到较多的液滴累积电荷。 然而, 该过程中最重 要的限制因素是能否充分将液滴去溶剂化而将气态的离子 "释放"出来。 其二是巨大的离 子传输损失。 目前几乎所有商业仪器中的电喷雾都工作在大气压或者近大气压下, 而质谱 分析器的工作都需要较高的真空度, 所以需要一系列的真空接口和离子导引装置使得电喷 雾产生的离子可以进入分析器。 由于大气压真空接口 (通常是毛细管或者取样锥孔) 必须 保持很小的尺寸来维持后级真空 (一般直径小于 1画), 带来的结果是, 超过 90%的离子损 失在了真空界面上。 其三是严重的噪音干扰。 电喷雾过程中的噪音比较复杂, 除了由于实 际样品中盐分、糖类等杂质争夺电荷带来的基质效应之外,还有由未充分去除的溶剂分子、 背景气体杂质等带来的中性分子噪音, 这一部分噪音会大大降低质谱分析的灵敏度。
为了解决离子产生数少、 去溶剂化不充分的问题, 通常的方法是通入高流量、 高温度 的雾化气来帮助液滴的去溶剂化过程。 比如美国专利 US6759650、 US8039795等,·但是高 流量的雾化气会带来较高的费用, 而高温气体还会引起一些易挥发溶剂的蒸发甚至沸腾。
为了解决真空界面上的离子损失, 可以采用更小尺寸的针尖以减少喷雾区的面积, 实 际上就是降低喷雾时的液体流速, 这样可以提高进入接口的离子比例, 这就是所谓的纳升 喷雾的方法。还可以采用更大口径的毛细管,但同时也对后级的真空泵提出了更高的要求。 美国专利 US6803565中提出了采用多根纳升喷针和多根毛细管接口的方法, 实际上是前两 种方法的结合。 还有一种更有效的方法, 就是直接在低气压下进行电喷雾。 美国专利 US5838002、 US6068749和 US7671344中, 都揭示了低气压下进行电喷雾的装置和方法, 特 别是 US7671344 中采用了离子接收口很大的离子导引装置 "离子漏斗", 可以使得绝大多 数离子被传输、 聚焦入下级真空。 但是这种方法不能解决噪音问题, "离子漏斗"虽然提 高了离子的传输效率,但是也提高了噪音的传输效率,而且由于低压下缺少气体分子碰撞, 去溶剂化过程更加不充分, 因此溶剂分子噪音的影响会更加严重, 甚至可能完全淹没待测 分析物的质谱信号。 目前处理噪音的主要方法还是复杂的样品前处理过程和色谱分离过 程, 不仅费时费力, 而且在过程中还可能引入新的杂质噪音。
为了降低电喷雾离子源的噪音, 美国专利 US6730904和 US2011/0049357提出了离子 偏轴传输的导引装置, 这些装置将离子通过电场产生偏转, 而中性分子沿直线路径.被真空 泵抽出, 以此实现离子偏轴传输, 从而降低.中性分子带来的噪音。 但这些装置除了结构上 的复杂性之外, 目前都只能应用于大气压离子源接口, 而不能用于低压电喷雾接口, 原因 是这些传输装置典型的工作气压都在 3 torr甚至 0. ltorr以下, 而目前可形成稳定、 灵 敏的电喷雾的气压都在 10 torr以上, 因此离子在真空接口上的严重损失仍然存在。 比如, 对于 US2011/0049357阐述的由两个不同直径(典型值为 15 隱和 5 ram) 的层叠电极耦合 在一起的装置, 如果要工作在 10 torr以上, 为了保持后级系统的真空度(通常在 l(T3 tOT 量级), 较小尺寸的层叠电极直径必须降低到 2 ram以下, 否则会带来巨大的真空泵负载。 而在此尺寸下, 离子很难克服大直径的层叠电极和小直径的层叠电极间的射频势垒, 很难 再实现有效的偏轴传输。
总之, 目前还没有一种较好的方法, 可以同时解决这几种限制电喷雾灵敏度的因素, 从而得到较好的灵敏度响应。 发明内容
本发明的目的是提供一种离子产生装置以及离子产生方法。 该方法可以降低电喷雾离 子在真空接口上的损失,同时又可以减少中性噪音的影响,以提高电喷雾离子源的灵敏度。
基于此目的, 本发明提出了一种离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 包括: 腔体, 该腔体内 为低于大气压的低压环境; 低压电喷雾离子源, 其位于所述腔体内的一端, 用于在所述低 压环境下, 沿一喷雾方向产生包含有离子的电喷雾; 沿自身轴向延伸的离子导引装置, 该 离子导引装置位于所述腔体内, 且在其径向上分为电隔离的室少两部分, 在该电隔离的至 少两部分之间施加偏置电压, 该偏置电压使离子的传输方向偏离所述喷雾方向; 离子引出 口, 其位于所述腔体的腔壁上, 该离子引出口沿离子引出方向引出所述离子, 所述离子引 出方向偏离所述喷雾方向。 本发明同时提出了一种在低于大气压的环境下的离子产生方 法, 该方法包括: 在低于大气压的低压环境下, 由低压电喷雾电离源产生离子的步骤; 以 及在该低压环境下, 所产生的离子经过施加有偏置电压的离子导引装置而发生偏转的步 骤, 该偏置电压被施加在所述离子导引装置的在径向电隔离的至少两部分上。
相比现有的背景技术, 本发明有如下优点:
1、 相比常压下喷雾、 低压下离子偏轴传输技术, 本发明可以大幅减少离子在大气压 与真空接口上的损失, 提高离子的传输效率, 绝大多数经电喷雾产生的离子可以进入质谱 分析装置;
2、 相比己经报道过的低压喷雾技术, 本发明可以减少中性噪音 (包括喷雾液滴和环 境噪音) 的干扰, 提高仪器的灵敏度。 附图说明
为让本发明的上述目的、 特征和优点能更明显易懂, 以下结合附图对本发明的具体实 施方式作详细说明, 其中:
图 1为本发明第一实施方式的离子产生装置的典型结构图。
图 2为本发明第一实施方式的变化例的示意图。
图 3为本发明第二实施方式的离子产生装置的典型结构图。
图 4为本发明第二实施方式的变化例示意图。
图 5为图 1-图 4所示的各实施例的变化例的示意图。
图 6为本发明第三实施方式的离子产生装置的典型结构图。 具体实施方式
本发明的第一实施方式的离子产生装置的典型结构如图 1所示。 在该装置中, 设置有 真空腔体 1, 该腔体的典型气压值为 1- 200torr, 优选气压值为 10_30torr。真空腔体中设 置低压电喷雾离子源 2和离子导引装置 3, 低压电喷雾离子源 2的轴线 (即喷雾轴线)与 离子导引装置 3的几何轴线保持基本平行或重合。 典型的离子导引装置 3由一系列圆环阵 列组成, 相邻圆环施加相位相反的射频电压以对离子形成径向束缚, 且在轴线方向上施加 一直流电压以驱动离子沿轴线向前运动; 每个圆环由两个分段电极围成, 在两个分段电极 间施加一直流偏置电压,该偏置电压可驱动离子偏离轴线而运动到圆环一侧;典型情况下, 可使得每个圆环的两个分段电极的长度比例沿轴线逐渐变化, 使得离子在轴向上偏轴传输 的同时被径向聚焦而更好的进入下级真空。 一个典型的工作过程是, 由低压电喷雾离子源 2产生带电液滴, 带电液滴在飞行过程中逐渐脱溶剂产生带电离子, 离子进入装置 3后沿 图中 4的方向被偏轴传输, 经过离子引出口 18, 进入离子导引装置 3的后级装置 6和 7以 待质量分析器 8进行质谱分析; 未经充分脱溶剂的液滴, 或者其他来源的中性化学噪音, 通过一个设置在装置 3轴线方向上的真空抽口 9沿图中虚线 5的方向被腔体 1外的真空泵 抽走而离开该环境。 以上所述装置可使得大部分离子进入质谱分析装置而没有大气压-真 空界面损失, 过程中大部分的中性噪音可以被有效去除, 因此该装置可提供理论上最高程 度的灵敏度。
以上实施方式中, 所述离子导引装置 3可以不限定为圆环电极阵列形式, 多级杆导引 系、 Q阵列导引系、 丝状电极导引装置、 行波电极导引装置等也可以作为该发明中的离子 导引装置 3, 但是一定要施加径向的偏置电压来达到降噪的目的。 所述低压电喷雾离子源 2优选为纳升喷雾离子源, 例如使用纳升喷针, 也可以使用微升喷针或者更大流量喷针; 喷针可为一根或多根, 甚至可以是喷针阵列芯片。 所述低压电喷雾离子源 2与离子导引装 置 3的几何轴线可以平行或重合, 也可以有一定角度, 只是这时传输效率可能会降低, 可 增加推斥或引导电极来补偿这个问题。
以上实施方式中, 所述低气压电喷雾过程中的脱溶剂效率会较大气压稍低, 因此可以 进一步引入帮助脱溶剂的手段来提高离子产生数量。 比如, 可以从大气压引入一路加热的 辅助气体, 该气体与喷雾液滴相互作用, 加速脱溶剂过程, 该气体的喷射方向可以与喷雾 方向同轴, 也可以成一定角度, 引入气体的另一好处是可以局部提高喷针针尖处气压, 减 少针尖放电几率; 还引入一束加热激光照射到喷雾液滴上; 或者引入超声波来振荡喷雾液 滴, 或者在喷雾路径上设置一个加热金属管, 或者将整个真空腔体加热, 等等。
以上实施方式中, 在所述装置的后级可以进一步连接更低气压的导引装置, 如多级杆 等, 以便将离子最终引入质量分析器以进行分析。 也可以连接其他分析装置, 比如离子迁 移谱装置, 光谱分析装置等。 所述装置的前级可以连接液相色谱, 或者注射泵等。
图 2给出了第一实施方式的一个变化例, 该变化例表明喷雾产生离子被偏轴导引的路 径可以有多种形式。 图 2中, 低压电喷雾离子源 2轴线与离子导引装置 3的轴线方向 (即 轴线电位降低方向)正好相反, 带电液滴从 2产生后具有很高的初速度, 逆向飞入装置 3, 飞行过程中液滴脱溶剂产生带电离子, 带电离子被装置 3的轴向电场逐渐减速, 最后方向 反转, 沿图中所示 4的轨迹经过离子引出口 18进入下级装置 6, 而脱溶剂不充分的液滴和 其它中性化学噪音沿图中虚线 5所示的轨迹通过真空抽口 9抽走。 该变化例中离子的传输 方向改变了 180度,而中性噪音仍只能沿直线前进,所以该种方式可以更彻底的去除噪音: 另外, 离子从离子导引装置 3中的引出方向也可以垂直于 3的轴线或者与离子导引装置 3 的轴线成某一角度, 该情况相当于将装置 3竖立起来, 这样不仅可以进一步降噪, 而且可 以减小整个仪器的尺寸。
图 3给出了本装置和方法的第二实施例。 该实施例中进一步引入大气压电喷雾离子源 10, 经大气压电喷雾离子源 10产生的带电液滴和离子通过大气压-真空接口 11 (此处为一 段毛细管)与低压电喷雾离子源 2产生的带电液滴和离子一起经离子导引装置 3后被偏轴 传输入下一级装置 6。 大气压 -真空接口 11会带来更严重的中性噪音, 但由于离子导引装 置 3和真空抽口 9的存在, 从大气环境冲入腔体 1的中性噪音可以被有效去除。 此实施例 可用于做内标法校正质谱仪中的质量数, 一般用于飞行时间质谱仪等高分辨仪器。 此时, 可将低压电喷雾离子源 2作为内标离子的离子源, 即离子源 2的管路中为内标物液流而非 分析物液流, 而大气压电喷雾离子源 10正常进分析物液流。 相比传统的大气压双喷雾源 校正质量数, 采用这个方法有以下两点好处, 其一是消除了喷雾之间的电场干扰的问题, 因此二者都可以稳定喷雾, 而这个问题一直是困扰大气压双喷雾源的严重问题; 其二是由 于低压电喷雾离子源 2可采用很低的流速喷雾 (比如纳升喷雾), 但由于没有离子损失, 因此信号与大气压普通流速喷雾相当, 这样可大为降低昂贵内标物的使用量。
在此实施例中, 可以不做质量数校正, 只作为双压电离源对分析物使用, 而且可以分 时使用。 此外, 大气压电喷雾离子源 10也可以是其它大气压离子源, 比如大气压化学电 离源, 大气压光电离源, 大气压直接分析电离源等。 大气压电喷雾离子源 10甚至可以不 做电离, 只产生分析物的气态分子, 比如, 可以用激光解吸分析物产生气态分子, 然后该 气态分子进入真空腔体 1后被低压电喷雾离子源 2电离。 大气压 -真空 11可以是毛细管, 也可以是取样锥孔等多种形式, 甚至可以是大气压透镜, 该接口也可以作为低压电喷雾离 子源 2的脱溶剂装置来使用。
图 4是第二实施方式的第一变化例。 该变化例表明所述低压电喷雾离子源 2不仅可以 与大气压离子源联用, 而且可以与低压离子源 12联用。 该低压离子源 12可以是任意离子 源, 比如电喷雾源、 基质辅助激光解吸电离源、 化学电离源、 真空光电离源、 电子轰击电 离源等。 为了使得低压电喷雾离子源 2与低压离子源 12较好地配置, 可以添加推斥电极 13或者其它导引电极。 低压离子源 12可不与低压电喷雾离子源 2处于同一真空腔中, 典 型地, 可将低压离子源 12位于装置 6所处真空腔中, 这一般适用于当低压电喷雾离子源 2 与低压离子源 12为不同种类离子源的情况, 比如低压电喷雾离子源 2为电喷雾离子源, 低压离子源 12 为电子轰击电离源, 二者所适合的工作气压不同。 在串级质谱的情况下, 可以将低压离子源 12放置于第一级质量分析器的后级, 从反方向进入串级质谱的碰撞腔, 与从低压电喷雾离子源 2产生的、 且由正方向进入碰撞腔的离子碰撞解离, 以进行化学反 应检测或产生子离子迸行串级分析。
图 5是以上各例的变化例。 在该变化例中, 大气压离子源 10产生的离子从离子导引 装置 3的轴线方向的反向经大气压 -真空接口 11进入 3, 离子被减速后反向偏转, 与从低 压电喷雾离子源 2产生的离子一起经离子导引装置 3后进入下一级装置 6。 该变化例兼有 上述各实施方式的离子产生装置的优点, 能够用于质量内标校正, 且能够充分降低从大气 环境中进入的中性噪音。
图 6是本发明的离子产生装置和离子产生方法的第三实施方式。 在该实施方式中, 在 低压电喷雾离子源 2和离子导引装置 3之间加入一个真空界面 15,该界面可以是取样锥孔, 可以是毛细管, 也可以是高气压离子透镜等。 这个真空界面的引出口一般小于 2mm, 以得 到较好的聚焦效果。 低压电喷雾离子源 2工作在较低真空度, 例如 100-300torr下, 这样 可以使得电喷雾的脱溶剂过程更充分, 因此可以采用更高的喷雾流速以提高分析通量。 离 子导引装置 3位于另一真空腔 14, ,该真空腔 14的气压可在 10-30torr区间内。此外, 还 可以将离子导引装置 3后级增加又一离子导引装置 16, 该离子导引装置 16也做成与离子 导引装置 3类似的偏轴导引结构。 该离子导引装置 16的工作气压在 1- 3torr区间内。 像 这样, 可以将离子流连续地偏转两次, 且将由真空腔 14和离子导引装置 16之间的气压差 引起的中性噪音滤除, 进一步提高最终输出信号的信噪比。

Claims

权利要求书
1. 一种离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 包括:
腔体, 该腔体内为低于大气压的低压环境;
低压电喷雾离子源, 其位于所述腔体内的一端, 用于在所述低压环境下, 沿一喷雾方 向产生包含有离子的电喷雾;
沿自身轴向延伸的离子导引装置, 该离子导引装置位于所述腔体内, 且在其径向上分 为电隔离的至少两部分, 在该电隔离的至少两部分之间施加偏置电压, 该偏置电压使离子 的传输方向偏离所述喷雾方向;
离子引出口, 其位于所述腔体的腔壁上, 该离子引出口沿离子引出方向引出所述离子, 所述离子引出方向偏离所述喷雾方向。
2. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 进一步包含真空抽口, 其位于所 述腔壁上且与所述离子引出口分离, 用于将该低压环境中的至少部分中性噪音成分抽走。
3. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 所述喷雾方向与所述离子引出方 向为大致相反方向。
4. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置,其特征在于, 所述离子引出口的直径小于 2 mm。
5. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 所述偏置电压是直流电压, 或者 交流电压, 或者两者的结合。
6. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 所述离子导引装置在其轴向上导 弓 I离子且在靠近所述离子弓 I出口处对离子进行聚焦。
7. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 所述离子导引装置由沿同一中心 轴线分布的层叠式的环形组件电极组成, 其中每个环形组件由多个分立的分段电极组成。
8. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 所述离子导引装置由沿同一中心 轴线分布的多级杆阵列组成。
9. 根据权利要求 5所述的离子产生装置,, 其特征在于, 在所述离子导引装置上, 将直流 偏置电压提供至所述同一环形组件的不同分段电极之间。
10. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 进一步包含用于连通该低压环境 和近大气压区域的一路或多路毛细管。
11. 根据权利要求 10所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 进一步包含一个或多个位于所 述近大气压区域的大气压电喷雾离子源。
12. 根据权利要求 11 所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 所述低压电喷雾离子源与所述 大气压电喷雾离子源同时工作。
13. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 所述低压电喷雾离子源为纳升喷 雾离子源。
14. 根据权利要求 1所述的装置, 其特征在于, 所述低压电喷雾离子源具有多根喷针。
15. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 进一步包含直径小于 2 mm的真 空接口, 该真空接口使得所述低压电喷雾离子源和所述离子导引装置工作在真空度不同的 低压环境下。
16. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 进一步包含处于该低压环境中的 真空紫外光电离源。
17. 根据权利要求 1所述的装离子产生置, 其特征在于, 进一步包含处于该低压环境中的 化学电离源。
18. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 进一步包含处于该低压环境中的 激光解吸电离源。
19. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 该离子产生装置产生的离子进入 下一级真空装置以待进行质谱分析。
20. 根据权利要求 1所述的离子产生装置, 其特征在于, 该离子产生装置与离子迁移谱仪 联用。
21. 一种在低于大气压的环境下的离子产生方法, 包括:
在低于大气压的低压环境下, 由低压电喷雾电离源产生离子的步骤; 以及
在该低压环境下, 所产生的离子经过施加有偏置电压的离子导引装置而发生偏转的步 骤, 该偏置电压被施加在所述离子导引装置的在径向电隔离的至少两部分上。
22. 根据权利要求 21 所述的离子产生方法, 其特征在于, 所述低压环境中的至少部分中 性噪音成分从一真空抽口被抽走, 而离开该环境。
23. 根据权利要求 21所述的离子产生方法, 其特征在于, 所述偏转路径为非直线的路径。
24. 根据权利要求 21 所述的离子产生方法, 其特征在于, 所述低压电喷雾离子源产生的 离子先经过直径小于 2 mm的真空接口, 在传输过程中发生偏转, 电喷雾过程和偏转传输 过程发生在不同气压的低压环境中。
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