CVD‑engineered silver nanoparticle substrates for matrix‑free LDI‑MS analysis of diesel fuel components
- 1Centre for Modern Interdisciplinary Technologies, Institute of Advanced Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
- 2Department of Inorganic and Coordination Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Abstract
Rapid screening of diesel‑fuel composition remains challenging because the hydrocarbon matrix is chemically complex and conventional chromatographic workflows are labor‑intensive. Here, we systematically examined how chemical vapor deposition (CVD) parameters influence the morphology and analytical performance of silver nanoparticle (AgNPs) substrates for nanostructure‑assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry of diesel‑fuel components. Stainless‑steel plates were coated with AgNPs layers using a volatile silver precursor while varying deposition time, precursor‑evaporation temperature (Ts), deposition temperature (Td), and argon flow rate. The resulting surfaces were characterized by SEM and AFM, and their performance was evaluated by LDI‑MS for a certified diesel standard and three real diesel samples, in parallel with conventional MALDI‑MS using DHB and HCCA matrices. Within the investigated dataset, substrates prepared at Ts = 240 °C, Td = 290 °C, 60 min, and intermediate Ar flow formed continuous fine‑grained AgNPs films that were among the best‑performing surfaces in terms of signal richness and spectral coverage. For the real diesel samples analyzed here, AgNPs‑assisted NALDI generally produced cleaner, analyte‑centered spectra than MALDI‑MS, whereas for the diesel reference standard the MALDI datasets contained a broader overall set of detected m/z features. These findings support CVD‑prepared AgNPs substrates as promising matrix‑free platforms for rapid diesel profiling, although the present conclusions should be regarded as exploratory until validated with independently prepared replicate substrates.
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BibTeX
@article{robotnik2026cvdengineered,
title = {{CVD‑engineered silver nanoparticle substrates for matrix‑free LDI‑MS analysis of diesel fuel components}},
author = {Kinga Robotnik and Ewelina Sibińska and Agnieszka Ludwiczak and Joanna Rudnicka and Aleksandra Florkiewicz and Piotr Piszczek and Aleksandra Radtke and Tomasz Zieliński and Jagoda Pałczyńska and Paweł Piotr Pomastowski},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-62030-3},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-62030-3},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - CVD‑engineered silver nanoparticle substrates for matrix‑free LDI‑MS analysis of diesel fuel components
AU - Kinga Robotnik
AU - Ewelina Sibińska
AU - Agnieszka Ludwiczak
AU - Joanna Rudnicka
AU - Aleksandra Florkiewicz
AU - Piotr Piszczek
AU - Aleksandra Radtke
AU - Tomasz Zieliński
AU - Jagoda Pałczyńska
AU - Paweł Piotr Pomastowski
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-62030-3
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-62030-3
AB - Rapid screening of diesel‑fuel composition remains challenging because the hydrocarbon matrix is chemically complex and conventional chromatographic workflows are labor‑intensive. Here, we systematically examined how chemical vapor deposition (CVD) parameters influence the morphology and analytical performance of silver nanoparticle (AgNPs) substrates for nanostructure‑assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry of diesel‑fuel components. Stainless‑steel plates were coated with AgNPs layers using a volatile silver precursor while varying deposition time, precursor‑evaporation temperature (Ts), deposition temperature (Td), and argon flow rate. The resulting surfaces were characterized by SEM and AFM, and their performance was evaluated by LDI‑MS for a certified diesel standard and three real diesel samples, in parallel with conventional MALDI‑MS using DHB and HCCA matrices. Within the investigated dataset, substrates prepared at Ts = 240 °C, Td = 290 °C, 60 min, and intermediate Ar flow formed continuous fine‑grained AgNPs films that were among the best‑performing surfaces in terms of signal richness and spectral coverage. For the real diesel samples analyzed here, AgNPs‑assisted NALDI generally produced cleaner, analyte‑centered spectra than MALDI‑MS, whereas for the diesel reference standard the MALDI datasets contained a broader overall set of detected m/z features. These findings support CVD‑prepared AgNPs substrates as promising matrix‑free platforms for rapid diesel profiling, although the present conclusions should be regarded as exploratory until validated with independently prepared replicate substrates.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -