« A few years ago the idea of making proteins or polymers “fly” by electrospray ionization (ESI) seemed as improbable as a flying elephant, but today it is a standard part of modern mass spectrometers » (Fenn, Nobel Lecture 2002). Nowadays, it is well recognised that ESI sources are more than analytical tools.
At ISM we are building a set-up based on an ESI source, where an ion beam of complex analytes can be transferred and handle in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions for studies and applications in several fields, from life sciences to nanotechnologies.
Solvent-free deposition in clean UHV environmental conditions of highly selected species, like size-selected nanoparticles or enzymes with a specific conformation, will allow to produce innovative and selective sensors for biomarkers detection, food and environment quality check as well as to fabricate low dimensional materials with tailored functions.
Staff: Paola Bolognesi, Jacopo Chiarinelli, Mattea Carmen Castrovilli, Annarita Casavola, Laura Carlini, Lorenzo Avaldi