Correlating Droplet Size with Temperature Changes in Electrospray Source by Optical Methods

We investigated how the temperature and size of charged droplets are affected by the electrospray ionization (ESI) process, using <i>in situ</i> measurements involving laser-induced fluorescence and Mie scattering on a thermal gradient focusing ESI source. Rhodamine dyes were employed as temperature indicators using ratiometric intensity-based fluorescence techniques. The results were compared to lifetime-based techniques using tris­(2,2′-bipyridyl)­dichlororuthenium­(II) hexahydrate, [Ru­(bpy)₃]²⁺. Both methods gave similar profiles. Nevertheless, the precision and sensitivity were higher for lifetime-based techniques in comparison to intensity-based techniques. Global warming (with Δ<i>T</i> ∼10 K) of the ESI plume is reported while the size of the droplet decreases along the plume. The global warming indicates that the conductive thermal transfer (between the superheated sheath gas and the solvent) is predominant and stronger than the cooling effect due to the evaporation of the droplets, and this outcome is effectively reproduced by a diffusion-controlled evaporation model. Thermal gradient focusing ESI sources therefore appear to be efficient sources for evaporating large amounts of solvent, along with an increase in temperature

Temperature Response of Rhodamine B‑Doped Latex Particles. From Solution to Single Particles

Nanoparticle-based temperature imaging is an emerging field of advanced applications. Herein, the sensitivity of the fluorescence of rhodamine B-doped latex nanoparticles toward temperature is described. Submicrometer size latex particles were prepared by a surfactant-free emulsion polymerization method that allowed a simple and inexpensive way to incorporate rhodamine B into the nanoparticles. Also, rhodamine B-coated latex nanoparticles dispersed in water were prepared in order to address the effect of the dye location in the nanoparticles on their temperature dependence. A better linearity of the temperature dependence emission of the rhodamine B-embedded latex particles, as compared to that of free rhodamine B dyes or rhodamine B-coated latex particles, is observed. Temperature-dependent fluorescence measurements by fluorescent confocal microscopy on individual rhodamine B-embedded latex particles were found similar to those obtained for fluorescent latex nanoparticles in solution, indicating that these nanoparticles could be good candidates to probe thermal processes as nanothermometers