The Ion Mobility Quadrupole Time-of-Flight (IM-QTOF) Mass Spectrometry Facility provides advanced capabilities for the separation, identification, and structural characterisation of complex chemical and biological systems. By combining high-resolution mass spectrometry with ion mobility separation, the facility enables orthogonal analysis based on mass-to-charge ratio, ion size, shape, and charge.

The platform is ideally suited to challenging analytical problems involving complex mixtures, isomeric species, trace-level contaminants, and structure–function relationships across environmental, pharmaceutical, materials, and biological applications.

Specifications

The facility is centred on an Agilent 1260 Infinity II LC with 6560 IM-QTOF-MS integrating quadrupole precursor selection, high-resolution time-of-flight mass analysis, and gas-phase ion mobility separation.

Core capabilities

• High-resolution QTOF mass analyser
• Ion mobility separation providing collisional cross-section (CCS) information
• Accurate mass measurement for elemental composition determination
• Fast acquisition rates suitable for chromatographic coupling
• High mass accuracy and resolving power
• Polarity switching for positive and negative ion analysis

Typical experiments and workflows

• High-resolution full-scan MS and MS/MS
• Ion mobility-resolved MS and MS/MS
• Separation of isobaric and isomeric species
• Determination of collisional cross sections (CCS)
• Targeted and non-targeted screening
• Suspect and unknown identification
• Structural elucidation and confirmation
• Trace-level analysis in complex matrices

Application areas

• Environmental analysis (e.g. PFAS, pesticides, emerging contaminants)
• Pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis
• Metabolomics and lipidomics
• Polymer and materials characterisation
• Forensic and food authenticity studies
• Reaction monitoring and degradation studies