Table 1 Comparison of various MS platforms in biofuel research

GC-MS

5–20 min [17]

Limited to small, volatile molecules (short-chain alcohol, fatty acid, hydrocarbon, fatty ester, etc.)

LC-ESI-MS

10–60 min [14]

Most versatile (Glycan, lipid, fatty acid-derived molecules of various chain lengths)

Automated SPE cleanup and ESI MS

~ 10 s [27, 28]

Microfluidics-ESI MS

< 1 s [24, 29, 30]

Acoustics-OPP-ESI MS

< 1 s [31]

MALDI MS imaging

< 5 s [12, 25, 26]

Preferably macromolecules (glycan, lipid, etc.) and small, nonvolatile molecules (medium- to long-chain fatty acid-derived molecules, etc.)