Matrix Assisted and/or Laser Desorption Ionization Quadrupole Ion Trap Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry of WO 3 Clusters Formation in Gas Phase. Nanodiamonds, Fullerene, and Graphene Oxide Matrices
Mayuri Vilas Ausekar, Ravi Madhukar Mawale, Pavel Pazdera, Josef Havel
The formation of W x O y +●/-● clusters in the gas phase was studied by laser desorption ionization (LDI) and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) of solid WO3. LDI produced (WO3) n + ●/- ● (n = 1-7) clusters. In MALDI, when using nano-diamonds (NDs), graphene oxide (GO), or fullerene (C60) matrices, higher mass clusters were generated. In addition to (WO3) n -● clusters, oxygen-rich or -deficient species were found in both LDI and MALDI (with the total number of clusters exceeding one hundred ≈ 137). This is the first time that such matrices have been used for the generation of(WO3) n +●/-● clusters in the gas phase, while new high mass clusters (WO3) n -● (n = 12-19) were also detected.