Electrosprays of highly conducting liquids: A study of droplet and ion emission based on retarding potential and time-of-flight spectrometry

Electrosprays of highly conducting liquids operated in the cone-jet mode produce charged nanodroplets of controllable size and molecular ions. The study of this electrospraying regime is challenging because of the lack of experimental techniques for probing these nanometric systems. An experimental technique based on time-of-flight and retarding potential analysis is presented for measuring the velocity and potential of the jet at its breakup, and it uses this information to rationalize the physics of both the droplet formation and the emission of ions from cone-jets of highly conducting liquids.