Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry as a Potential Tool for Evaluation of Hydroxylation Degree of Various Types of Titanium Dioxide Materials

Małgorzata Kasperkowiak; Monika Kurowska; Maciej Zalas; Rafał Frański

doi:10.3390/ma14226848

Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry as a Potential Tool for Evaluation of Hydroxylation Degree of Various Types of Titanium Dioxide Materials

Materials (Basel). 2021 Nov 13;14(22):6848. doi: 10.3390/ma14226848.

Authors

Małgorzata Kasperkowiak¹, Monika Kurowska², Maciej Zalas², Rafał Frański²

Affiliations

¹ Center for Advanced Technology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 10, 61-614 Poznań, Poland.
² Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 8, 61-614 Poznań, Poland.

Abstract

For many applications, TiO₂ must have a unique surface structure responsible for its desirable physicochemical properties. Therefore the fast and easy methods of TiO₂ surface characterization are of great interest. Heated TiO₂ samples and dye-modified TiO₂ samples were analyzed by laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. In the negative ion mode, two types of ions were detected, namely (TiO₂)_n^- and (TiO₂)_nOH^-. It has been established that the samples can be differentiated based on the relative ion abundances, especially with respect to the free hydroxyl group population. It indicates that laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry has the potential for the investigation of the surface properties of various TiO₂ materials.

Keywords: hydroxyl group; laser desorption/ionization; mass spectrometry; surface analysis; titanium dioxide.