Probing soft materials with energetic ions and molecules: from microscopic models to the real world

Cluster-induced desorption investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulations-Microsolvation in clusters of polar and non-polar constituents

The desorption of surface-adsorbed molecules induced by cluster-surface collisions of neutral molecular clusters, in particular, SO₂ clusters, was investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The desorption efficiency was found to be in general much higher for clusters of polar molecules when compared to nonpolar cluster constituents, for both nonpolar and polar adsorbates. In all cases, desorption is shown to proceed via dissolvation of the analyte in the cluster. In systems with nonpolar cluster constituents, the process is mainly driven by the increase in the entropy of the dissolved analyte in a larger cluster fragment. The latter process is enhanced by polar cluster constituents since the respective clusters show lower fragmentation at comparable kinetic energy and thus provide in average larger cluster fragments for the analytes to be dissolved in. In systems with clusters of polar constituents and polar adsorbates, the process is most efficient due to the additional energetic stabilization of the desorbed molecule in the solvation shell formed in the cluster fragment.

Rapid label-free determination of ketamine in whole blood using secondary ion mass spectrometry

A fast and accurate drug screening to identify the possible presence of a wide variety of pharmaceutical and illicit drugs is increasingly requested in forensic and clinical toxicology. The current first-line screening relies on immunoassays. They determine only certain common drugs of which antibodies are commercially available. To address the issue, a rapid screening using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) has been developed. In the study, SIMS directly analyzed ketamine in whole blood without any pretreatment. While the untreated blood has a complicated composition, principal-components analysis (PCA) is used to detect unknown specimens by building up an analytical model from blank samples which were spiked with ketamine at 100 ng mL(-1), to simulate the presence of ketamine. Each characteristics m/z is normalized and scaled by multiplying the root square of intensity and square of corresponding m/z, developed by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Using linear regression and the result of PCA, this study enables to correctly distinguish ketamine positive and negative groups in an unknown set of specimens. The quantity of ketamine in an unknown set was determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as the reference methodology. Instead limited by commercially available antibodies, SIMS detects target molecules straight despite the label-free detection capabilities of SIMS, additional data processing (here, PCA) can be used to fully analyse the produced data, which extends the range of analytes of interest on drug screening. Furthermore, extremely low sample volume, 5 µL, is required owing to the high spatial resolution of SIMS. In addition, while the whole blood is analyzed within 3 min, the whole analysis has been shortened significantly and high throughput can be achieved.

Computer simulations of cluster impacts: effects of the atomic masses of the projectile and target

Cluster secondary ion mass spectrometry is now widely used for the characterization of nanostructures. In order to gain a better understanding of the physics of keV cluster bombardment of surfaces and nanoparticles (NPs), the effects of the atomic masses of the projectile and of the target on the energy deposition and induced sputtering have been studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. 10 keV C60 was used as a model projectile and impacts on both a flat polymer surface and a metal NP were analyzed. In the first case, the mass of the impinging carbon atoms was artificially varied and, in the second case, the mass of the NP atoms was varied. The results can be rationalized on the basis of the different atomic mass ratios of the projectile and target. In general, the emission is at its maximum, when the projectile and target have the same atomic masses. In the case of the supported NP, the emission of the underlying organic material increases as the atomic mass of the NP decreases. However, it is always less than that calculated for the bare organic surface, irrespective of the mass ratio. The results obtained with C60 impacts on the flat polymer are also compared to simulations of C60 and monoatomic Ga impacts on the NP.