Probing electrically driven nanojets by energy and mass analysis in vacuo*

Time of flight (TOF) and energy analysis in vacuum are used in series to determine jet velocity Uj, diameter dj, electrical potential Vj and energy dissipated V at the breakup point of electrified nanojets of the ionic liquid 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate (EMI-FAP). The full spray is periodically gated by a grid held at a high voltage Vg, and received at a collector where the measured flight times provide the distribution of drop speeds u. Varying Vg provides the bivariate distribution of drop energies ξ and velocities. The collector plate, centred with the beam axis, is divided into eight concentric rings, yielding the angular distribution of the spray current, and high resolution (u,ξ ) values in the whole spray. The energies of various particles of given u are all well defined, but depend uniquely on u, even though u and ξ are in principle independent experimental variables. Slow and fast particles have energies respectively well above and below the capillary voltage Ve (1.64 kV). As previously shown by Gamero-Castaño & Hruby (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 459, 2002, pp. 245–276), this behaviour is due to the 2-stage acceleration process, first jointly in the jet for all particles, and then separately for free flying drops or ions of different mass/charge. The measured two-dimensional distributions of u and ξ provide the jet velocity Uj (∼0.44 km s−1) and electrical potential Vj (1.2 kV) at the breakup point. All molecular ions originate near the breakup point rather than the meniscus neck. A measurable fraction of anomalously fast drops is observed that must come from Coulomb fissions of the main drops.