Recent Advances of In‐Source Electrochemical Mass Spectrometry

Hyphenation of electrochemistry (EC) and mass spectrometry has become a powerful tool to study redox processes. Approaches that can achieve this hyphenation include integrating chromatography/electrophoresis between electroinduced redox reactions and detection of products, coupling an EC flow cell to a mass spectrometer, and performing electrochemical reactions inside the ion source of a mass spectrometer. The first two approaches have been well reviewed elsewhere. This Minireview highlights the inherent electrochemical properties of many mass spectrometry ion sources and their roles in the coupling of electrochemistry and mass spectrometric analysis. Development of modified ion sources that allow the compatibility of electrochemistry with ionization processes is also surveyed. Applications of different in‐source electrochemical devices are provided including intermediate capturing, bioanalytical studies, nanoparticle formation, electrosynthesis, and electrode imaging. Electrochemistry in ion sources: Mass spectrometry (MS) coupled with electrochemistry (EC) has been developed, with a growing interest in their intersection inside MS ion sources for in situ and real‐time analysis of redox processes. This Minireview highlights various instrumentation innovations to couple MS with EC through ion sources and their emerging uses in chemical and bioanalytical applications.