75 years of science and technology
You can gain a lot by creating and sorting ions.
Mass spectrometry, as the technique is known, was the basis for the calutrons at the nearby Y-12 Plant that enriched uranium for Little Boy, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and it continues be a powerful analytical tool today.
“From the very origins of the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, mass spectrometry was a key technology, although we didn’t call it mass spectrometry back then,” explained Michelle Buchanan, ORNL’s deputy for science and technology.
Besides separating isotopes, it’s a powerful tool for determining the relative abundance of isotopes, providing both quality control and a means of verifying that governments abide by agreements not to create bomb-grade uranium.
In the 1970s, ORNL researchers worked with the new Environmental Protection Agency to use mass spectrometry to identify contaminants. Mass spectrometry also identified hazardous materials in tobacco smoke and coal liquids.
Buchanan came to ORNL in 1978, leading the lab’s Organic and Biological Mass Spectrometry Group for more than a decade and bringing mass spectrometry to biology research at the lab.
Over the years, ORNL researchers have developed and perfected a variety of mass spectrometry techniques, from small devices for the Army to detect chemical and biological weapons to tandem methods for biological analysis that connect two consecutive devices.
In 1994, Mike Ramsey and Stephen Jacobson of the Chemical and Analytical Sciences Division invented a “lab-on-a-chip” to provide a quick and cheap method for DNA sequencing. As thin as a microscope slide, it uses a process called electrokinetic transport, in which charged molecules are separated by size and electric charge, exposed to a fluorescent dye, then sorted by light intensity for computer analysis.
More recently, a team led by Gary Van Berkel invented a self-cleaning mass spectrometry device that requires no sample preparation or laboratory expertise, making it attractive for a wide range of applications such as food and water safety, forensics, and disease diagnosis. The Open Port Sampling Interfaces for Mass Spectrometry technology was commercialized in 2016.
“The best thing about it is it can't be easily fooled,” Buchanan said, “because you are actually measuring a mass. It’s the gold standard for identifying unknown compounds.”
