A comparison of the electrochemical stabilities of metal, polymer and graphite coated nanospray emitters

Abstract

Chronoamperometry (CA) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) were used to compare the electrochemical behavior of metal, polymer and graphite coated nanospray emitters. It is shown that electrochemical reactions occurring at the emitter surface limit the lifetime of the noble metal coated nanospray emitters while the graphite coated nanospray emitters show good electrochemical stabilities. Although the surface of the graphite coated emitters may be passivated at positive potentials, the conductive coating is not lost as for the noble metal coated nanospray emitters. The graphite coated nanospray emitters still produced a stable nanospray signal despite the presence of a passivated surface. The polymer (i.e. polyaniline) coated nanospray emitters showed very low electrochemical activity and could not be thoroughly tested by CA. The relative short lifetimes seen in the electrochemical tests are qualitatively comparable with those obtained in nanospray experiments, in which only the outmost tip of the emitter is electrochemically active. However, the electrochemical stress during CA far exceeds the stress during ESI, which implies that CA can be used to perform quick and simple estimates of emitter stabilities. To our knowledge, this is the first time the electrochemical behavior of metal, polymer and graphite coated nanospray emitters has been compared.