ABSTRACT
The chapter reviews recent developments in the application of noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) to laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS), secondary ion MS (SIMS), and inductively coupled plasma MS (ICP-MS). Metal NPs as matrices in LDI-MS enable the selective and sensitive detection of biomolecules such as proteins, peptides, aminothiols, drugs, and carbohydrates. Metal NPs act as both signal enhancers and target concentrators in SIMS when they are attached to a well-controlled surface such as self-assembled monolayers. ICP-MS is well suited to determine the concentration of metal NPs that have been conjugated to antibody. Besides, metal NPs are capable of serving as afϐinity and concentrating probes for target analytes prior to LDI-MS. A table summarizes the applications of metal NPs to the analysis of a variety of analytes in LDI-MS.
