Mass spectrometry for the characterization and quantification of engineered inorganic nanoparticles

Advancements in nanoscience enabled the synthesis of a diverse array of engineered nanomaterials. The precise control of the composition and quality of such nanomaterials is required to ensure their eventual successful application. Also importantly, the potentially adverse environmental and/or human health effects resulting from exposure to nanoparticles (NPs) is still a critical but underexplored research area. To understand and assess the potentially harmful effects of NPs a proper knowledge of their physicochemical properties is required. Among the different available analytical tools for the characterization and quantification of engineered inorganic NPs, mass spectrometry (MS) offers outstanding capabilities. The analytical capabilities of different MS-based techniques, including elemental and molecular detection, and hybrid tools derived from their coupling with different separation approaches, to identify, characterize and quantify NPs is here revised. A forward look into trends on the use of MS for more complete chemical analysis of engineered inorganic NPs is finally attempted.