In the past decade, ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) in combination with mass spectrometry (IM-MS) became a widely employed technique for the separation and structural characterization of ionic species in the gas phase. Similarly to chromatography, where studies on the mechanism of band broadening and adequate plate-height equations have been aiding method development and promoting advancements in column technology, a suitable resolving power theory of drift tube ion mobility-mass spectrometry (DTIM-MS) is essential to stimulate further progress in this emerging field of separation science. In the present study, therefore, we explore dispersion processes in detail and present a plate-height model of ion mobility-mass spectrometry. We quantify the effects of five major dispersion processes that contribute to zone broadening and determine the resolving power in DTIM-MS: diffusion, Coulomb repulsion, electric field inhomogeneities, the finite initial spread of the ion cloud and dispersion outside the mobility cell. A solution is provided to account for the nonuniform separation field in IM-MS in the presence of multiple compartments. The equations - derived from first principles - serve as the basis for formulating an expression that is similar in nature to van Deemter's plate-height equation for chromatography. A comprehensive set of experiments was performed on a custom-built DTIM-MS instrument to evaluate the accuracy of the plate-height model, resulting in satisfactory agreement between experiment and theory. Building on these findings, the plate-height equation was employed to explore the influence of drift gas pressure, injection pulse-width and the mobility of ions on resolving power from a theoretical point of view. Our findings may aid instrument design and development in the future, as well as the optimization of measurement conditions to improve ion mobility separations. By employing the plate-height concept and the general formalism of differential migration processes to describe zone spreading in IM-MS, we aim to find a common ground between this emerging method and such well-established techniques as HPLC or CZE. We also hope that the work presented here will facilitate a broader acceptance of IMS as a separation method of great potential by the communities of chromatography and electrophoresis, as well as that of mass spectrometry.
