Surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry using TiO₂-coated steel targets for the analysis of small molecules

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI–MS) measurements in the lowmolecular- mass region, ranging from 0 to 1000 Daltons are very often difficult to perform because of signal interferences originating frommatrix ions. In order to overcome this problem, a stainless steel target was coated with a homogeneous titanium dioxide layer. The layer obtained was further investigated for its ability to desorb smallmolecules, e.g., amino acids, sugars, poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) 200, or extracts from Cynara scolymus leaves. The stability of the layer was determined by repeated measurements on the same target location, which was monitored by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) before and after surfaceassisted laser desorption/ionization (SALDI) analysis. In addition, this titanium dioxide layer was compared with an already published method with titanium dioxide nanopowder as inorganic matrix. As a result of this work, the titanium dioxide layer produced minimal background interference, enabling simple interpretation of the detected mass spectra. Furthermore, the TiO2 coating provides a target that can be reused many times for SALDI–MS measurements