Atomic masses are too small to be measured with any weighing device used in daily life. For this reason, when talking about atomic masses, relative masses according to a standard are used instead of grams. This standard is called the atomic mass unit (akb, Da) and is represented by 1 in 12 the mass of the carbon-12 atom.

Mass spectroscopy is an analytical technique used to find the atomic composition and arrangement of substances over their relative masses. In this technique, substances are turned into positively or negatively charged ions by various methods and the masses of these charged molecules or molecular fragments; It is determined by the mass/load ratio.

There are different ionization techniques used by mass spectrometers. These; It can be counted as Electrospray Ionization (ESI), Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization (APCI), Atmospheric Pressure Photo Ionization (APPI) and Electrospray Chemical Ionization (ESCi). ESI and ESCi techniques and nano-ESI ionization techniques for nano materials are used in our center.

Mass spectrometers have various measurement methods. Two mass spectrometers are used in combination in the device in our center. These are the 4-Pole Mass Spectrometer (Quadropole) and the Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TOF).

In a 4-Pole Mass Spectrometer, charged molecules are filtered by varying the voltage (DC) and radio frequency (RF) applied to 4 bars arranged to coincide with the corners of a square. With this mass filtering, only the mass specific to that voltage can pass at each applied voltage, while the others hit the bars and move away from the environment.

In the Time-of-Flight Mass Spectroscopy measurement method, charged molecules are accelerated by a high electric field so that all masses have the same initial energy. Then these ions fly through a tube of about 1-1.5 meters called flight tube. Although the initial energies are the same, the speed of the molecules is inversely proportional to their masses, so light molecules will fly faster, while heavy molecules will move slowly. The masses of these molecules are determined according to the time they reach the detectors. This measurement technique is called Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer.

Mass spectrometers can be used alone or in conjunction with liquid chromatographs.

Liquid chromatography can be defined as a separation technique operated using a column. Substances dissolved in a liquid are separated from the mixture with the help of this technique, and each substance begins to progress alone in the column. These substances are analyzed with the aid of a mass spectrometer or other detector attached to the end of the column.

In Nano-Liquid Chromatography, on the other hand, the flow rate is at the nanoliter level and the column diameter is very thin. In this way, protein molecules can be analyzed without the need for an additional application.

There are two Liquid Chromatography devices connected to the mass spectrometer in our center. The first of these is Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography and the other is Nano-Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography.

Mass spectrometers have a very wide measuring range. It accurately detects the mass of many substances, from synthesized small organic molecules to very long chain proteins, from peptide molecules to polymers, within the ppm error range.

In addition, the MALDI (Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization) system is also used in the analysis of polymer and peptide chains together with mass spectrometry.