Energy shuttle ionization enables nitrogen carrier gas enhancement in gas chromatography-mass spectrometry through collision-stabilized ion lifetime extension

Abstract Global helium shortages threaten mass spectrometry infrastructure, requiring alternative carrier gases.We report energy shuttle ionization, a nitrogen-based energy relay mechanism achieving up to 20-fold sensitivity enhancement via collision-stabilized ion lifetime extension. Ethylene (9.1% v/v) addition to nitrogen carrier gas yields reproducible enhancement without altering electron ionization spectra. The mechanism involves lifetime extension of ethylene ions from ~ 100 ns to several µs through collision stabilization. Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis identifies ion lifetime and collision efficiency as dominant factors, explaining 73% of model variance. DFT calculations confirm orbital stabilization with collision cross-sections closely matching experiments. This represents the first demonstration of carrier gas-mediated energy transfer, establishing nitrogen as an active ionization participant—fundamentally distinct from helium-based chemical ionization or instrumental optimizations. Seventeen analytes validated cross-platform confirm broad applicability. These findings establish energy shuttle ionization as a novel physical framework with potential applications across analytical chemistry.