Layer-by-layer thin film of reduced graphene oxide and gold nanoparticles as an effective sample plate in laser-induced desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

Tsung-Rong Kuo; Di-Yan Wang; Yu-Chen Chiu; Yun-Chieh Yeh; Wei-Ting Chen; Ching-Hui Chen; Chun-Wei Chen; Huan-Cheng Chang; Cho-Chun Hu; Chia-Chun Chen

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2013.11.050

Layer-by-layer thin film of reduced graphene oxide and gold nanoparticles as an effective sample plate in laser-induced desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

Anal Chim Acta. 2014 Jan 27:809:97-103. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2013.11.050. Epub 2013 Dec 1.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, Taiwan; Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
² Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, Taiwan; Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 10617, Taiwan; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
³ Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Applied Science, National Taitung University, Taitung 95002, Taiwan.
⁶ Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Applied Science, National Taitung University, Taitung 95002, Taiwan. Electronic address: cchu@nttu.edu.tw.
⁸ Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, Taiwan; Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 10617, Taiwan. Electronic address: cjchen@ntnu.edu.tw.

PMID: 24418138
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2013.11.050

Abstract

This work demonstrated a simple platform for rapid and effective surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SALDI-TOF MS) measurements based on the layer structure of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and gold nanoparticles. A multi-layer thin film was fabricated by alternate layer-by-layer depositions of rGO and gold nanoparticles (LBL rGO/AuNP). The flat and clean two-dimensional film was served as the sample plate and also functioned as the matrix in SALDI-TOF MS. By simply one-step deposition of analytes onto the LBL rGO/AuNP sample plate, the MS measurements of various homogeneous samples were ready to execute. The optimization of MS signal was reached by the variation of the layer numbers of rGO and gold nanoparticles. Also, the small molecules including amino acids, carbohydrates and peptides were successfully analyzed in SALDI-TOF MS using the LBL rGO/AuNP sample plate. The results showed that the signal intensity, S N(-1) ratio and reproducibility of SALDI-TOF spectra have been significantly improved in comparison to the uses of gold nanoparticles or α-cyano-4-hydroxy-cinnamic acid (CHCA) as the assisted matrixes. Taking the advantages of the unique properties of rGO and gold nanoparticles, the ready-to-use MS sample plate, which could absorb and dissipate laser energy to analytes quite efficiently and homogeneously, has shown great commercial potentials for MS applications.

Keywords: Gold nanoparticles; Laser-induced desorption/ionization mass spectrometry; Multi-layer thin film; Reduced graphene oxide; Sample plate.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Gold / chemistry*
Graphite / chemistry*
Lasers*
Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
Oxidation-Reduction
Oxides / chemistry*
Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / instrumentation*
Surface Properties

Substances

Oxides
Gold
Graphite