Structural Analysis of Industrial Materials by MALDI-MS/MS 01 - Analysis of the Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) Polymers -

Introduction

MALDI-TOF MS is a widely used analytical technique for the structural analysis of various industrial materials. Although information is easily obtained from MALDI-TOF MS analysis on the masses of monomer repeat units and terminal end groups, it has been more challenging to obtain structural information. Using the high-energy collision-induced dissociation (high-energy CID) feature of the MALDI-TOF MS, MS/MS analysis was applied to a polymer used for OLED (organic light-emitting diode), and structural analysis was conducted using the mass spectra of product ions of a specific ion. This Application News article introduces such an analysis example. There are 2 types of emissive electroluminescent layers that can be used in OLED displays, a low-molecular weight type and a polymer type, the latter of which is receiving attention for future development because it can be produced in large sizes and made flexible. A uniquely structured polymer with a long conjugated system is often used as the polymer, and although NMR analysis and pyrolysis GC/MS analysis are often used, complete structural determination is difficult. For this reason, MS/MS analysis by MALDI-TOF MS is often used in conjunction with these other analysis techniques. Fig. 2 shows the mass spectrum of a polymer used for the light-emitting layer.

August 21, 2009 GMT