Abstract
Background: Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is a powerful surface analysis technique, initially developed and applied in inorganic materials and semiconductors. In past decades, ToF-SIMS has attracted more attention in its analysis capabilities of organic materials, with increased applications in biology, medical, and health development. It has also become a versatile and effective tool in environmental analysis due to its high mass resolution, mass accuracy, and depth profiling. Results: In this review, we first give an overview of the principle of ToF-SIMS and follow with recent ToF-SIMS applications in exemplary environmental study cases, including atmospheric aerosol, soil, water, plant, and organic solvent analysis. Moreover, sample preparation techniques are summarized in relation to corresponding environmental applications. Specifically, we call attention to ToF-SIMS investigations showcasing studies in surface chemical compositions, images, and depth profile analysis. These findings emphasize the important role of interfacial chemistry in environmental processes and provide valuable insights into dynamic processes, such as chemical transformation, particle formation, plant biology, and microbial inspired biotechnology development. The mass spectral imaging results acquired by ToF-SIMS offer a deeper understanding of intermediate stages and transient phases for environmental specimens. Significance: In situ and operando imaging offer new possibilities in studying phenomena in real time with high spatial resolution. It is anticipated that more research groups will use ToF-SIMS in environmental research given recent advances in measurement capabilities and surging needs in chemical mapping of complex analytes and systems.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 344412 |
| Journal | Analytica Chimica Acta |
| Volume | 1374 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 8 2025 |
Funding
The authors thank Dr. Gabriel Parker and Mr. Tobias Misicko for proofreading the manuscript. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) under contract number DE-AC05-00OR22725. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. DOE. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ). Data collection and writing were supported by a Physical Science Directorate Laboratory Directed Research and Development fund (project 11167 ). Revisions and reviewing were supported by the Office of Environmental Management (EM), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through the DOE National Laboratory Program Announcement Number LAB 23- EM001 , Hanford Tank Waste Cleanup Research & Development (project 277636 ).
Keywords
- Aerosol
- Biofilms
- Organics
- Plant
- Soil
- ToF-SIMS