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Ron's work focuses on micron-sized droplets in electric fields. Electrically charged droplets generated with an electrospray ionization source were characterized according to size, velocity, and net charge by a phase doppler anemometer in an atmospheric-pressure ion mobility cell. Field-reversing electronics caused droplets to ping-pong up and down in the mobility cell allowing sequential characterizations on the same droplet. Rayleigh discharge phenomena of hydrocarbon solvents n-heptane, n-octane, and p-xylene were studied and compared to discharge characteristics of the conventional electrospray solvents methanol, water, and acetonitrile.
Later mobility cell and Rayleigh discharge experiments focused how 2-component droplets behaved during Rayleigh discharge. So called binary systems of either 2-methoxyethanol, glycerol, ethylene glycol, or water in combination with methanol where characterized.
Studies of Rayleigh discharge phenomena led to investigations of neutral droplets in electric fields. Neutral droplets in a high electric field will develop regions of opposing charge density. At a critical field, the droplets emit two opposing charged jets. These jets were used as a source of gas-phase ions for mass analysis in a technique named field-induced droplet ionization (FIDI)
Current work studies the dynamics of the FIDI process and new applications in atmospheric and general physical chemistry.
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Beauchamp Research Group |
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