Electrospray Nebulization EN

For a discussion of droplet and ion formation in electrospray mass spectrometry, please see Chapter 8. 

The electric field and gas flow work together to provide a finely dispersed spray of charged droplets. An electric potential of about 3-5 kV is used for capillaries of about 50-100-pm diameter. 

Even without a rapid gas flow, the droplets produced are very small, at about 1-pm diameter or less, and they are produced at a rate of about 10 per second, similar to the rate of production of droplets in an ultrasonic device. 

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