Abstract

The global challenges presented by water and resource scarcity and the drawbacks of the methods designed to resolve them escalate the need for innovative selective ion separation solutions. Environmental concerns, material constraints, high costs, and limited scalability are unavoidable disadvantages that hinder many selective separation technologies. Through its reliance solely on electric field manipulation and its avoidance of hazardous solvents or selective membranes, the quadrupole ion trap in an aqueous environment presents itself as a worthy alternative to contemporary separation methods. This research effort aims to gauge the feasibility of using a large-scale aqueous quadrupole ion trap (i.e. traps with a radius larger than 5 [mm]) for the selective separation of monatomic ions, namely sodium and lithium. The motion of a single ion in both vacuum and fluid-filled environments is reviewed analytically and used to validate models constructed using COMSOL software. Subsequent analysis of sodium and lithium separation indicates that while possible in theory, the practical application of aqueous quadrupole ion traps for monatomic ion separation is infeasible at large scales. Proof-of-concept experimentation using larger charged particles, modified polystyrene microspheres, is then discussed. A device is built and tested, and the results suggest that continued research into aqueous quadrupole ion trapping for selective ion separation is not only justified, but necessary.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Mass spectrometry; Ion traps; Quadrupoles

Publication Date

10-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Mechanical Engineering (MS)

Department, Program, or Center

Mechanical Engineering

College

Kate Gleason College of Engineering

Advisor

Howard Tu

Advisor/Committee Member

Michael Schrlau

Advisor/Committee Member

Scott Williams

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

MECE-MS

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