On-Demand Instrumentation: 3D Printing a Complete Ion Mobility Spectrometry Drift Tube in a Single Process

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is increasingly being used for novel applications such as constructing functional components for analytical instrumentation. 3D-printed ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) drift tubes consist of conductive and nonconductive filaments and are ideally printed in a single process. However, 3D-printed drift tubes have previously been limited to an assembly of modular subcomponents because the ion gate and aperture grid, critical subcomponents, feature freestanding wires that span the inner diameter of the drift tube. These wires cannot be easily printed above the printer bed without a support underneath. Most 3D printers are limited to either single- or dual-filament extrusion, whereas a third soluble support filament is required to print a drift tube in a single process. In this report, we present a design and single process to 3D print a complete IMS drift tube without modular assembly.