Exploring the Chemical Structures and Phototochemical Properties of Graphene Oxide Derivatives by Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry to Develop an Efficient Platform for Mass Spectrometric Analysis

Abstract

Laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LDI-TOF-MS) analysis is harnessed to investigate the chemical structure and photochemical properties of two distinct graphene oxide (GO) derivatives simultaneously. The GO derivatives are synthesized with modified Brodie's method (BGO) and Hummers' method (HGO) and characterized by LDI-TOF-MS as well as conventional tools. A series of LDI-TOF-MS analyses reveal that BGO provides higher laser energy absorption, photochemical stability, and photothermal conversion property than HGO based on their fragmentation patterns and laser desorption/ionization behavior of a thermometer molecule. Based on these characteristics, BGO exhibits higher efficiency in the LDI-TOF-MS analysis of various small molecules and synthetic polymers than HGO. These different photochemical properties of BGO are derived from its large sp(2) carbon domains compared to HGO. Based on our findings, the analytical potential of LDI-TOF-MS for GO derivatives is clearly demonstrated, which can be an efficient and unique characterization tool to explore both chemical structures and photochemical properties of various carbon materials.