A comparative study of laser spray and electrospray

A comparative study of electrospray and laser spray has been undertaken fro m various aspects. In general, laser spray gave stronger ion signals than e lectrospray, for solutions with the sample concentration of less than or eq ual to 10(-5)M. For an aqueous solution of arginine, ion intensities of the cluster ions H+ (arginine)(n) with larger n were observed by laser spray t han by electrospray. This may be due to the enrichment of the sample concen tration by the selective vaporization of the solvent from the meniscus of t he sample solution effusing out of the stainless steel capillary by the las er irradiation. For an H2O/CH3OH (1:1, v/v) solution of 10(-5) M Arg-Lys-Ar g-Ala-Arg-Lys-Glu, laser spray gave stronger ion signals than electrospray while the most highly charged ion observed was [M + 4H](4+) for laser spray and [M + 5H](5+) for electrospray. Laser spray was found to be the most su itable for the analyses of aqueous solutions. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.