Electrospray-assisted nanocalorimetry measurements

The deposition of uniform, small and properly located samples onto micro-and nano-calorimetry sensors remains a challenge and is a critical aspect of performing these measurements. Here, we describe an electrospray method to deposit a variety of materials over a well-defined area of a chip-based calorimeter for small scale thermal measurements. Electrospray provides a versatile technique for sample deposition. In this work, we demonstrate the deposition of a number of samples, including insoluble inorganic materials (aluminum nanoparticles and Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST)), soluble inorganic materials (ammonium nitrate), bio-materials (lipids) and soluble organic materials (polyethylene oxide films and polyacrylonitrile formed into fibers) onto chip nanocalorimeters. This technique greatly simplifies sample deposition and expands applications for chip-based calorimetry. Published by Elsevier B.V.