Coupling digital microfluidics with mass spectrometry

Digital microfluidics enables the electrical actuation of microliter-sized droplets on a planar surface, facilitating precise control and digitization of chemical processes. It is typically operated in a closed chip format, preventing evaporation and contamination which also complicates chemical analysis of the trapped droplets. Thus, subsequent analytics are usually carried out offline or with simple optical methods. A new method including a chip-integrated microspray hole now allows on-the-fly mass spectrometry analysis on a digital microfluidics chip. The term “digitization of chemistry“ has recently gained popularity associated with the d...