Process of vacuum evaporation of an electrically conductive material for nanoelectrospray emitter coatings

1. A method for coating nanoelectrospray emitters comprising:

providing a nanoelectrospray emitter body and

evaporating an electrically conductive material under conditions effective to form a thin layer of the electrically conductive material onto the nanoelectrospray emitter body.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said evaporating comprises:

introducing the nanoelectrospray emitter body into a deposition chamber containing the electrically conductive material and

applying a current to the electrically conductive material in said deposition chamber under conditions effective to coat the nanoelectrospray emitter body with the electrically conductive material.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the current is at a level of about 1 A to about 200 A.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein said applying is carried out under vacuum.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein said vacuum is below 100 mTorr.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive material is selected from the group consisting of graphite, carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, and N- or P-doped semiconducting materials.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the electrically conductive material is graphite.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanoelectrospray emitter body comprises a glass or glass ceramic material.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the glass or glass ceramic material is a borosilicate, aluminosilicate, or fused silica material.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the thin layer of electrically conductive material has a thickness of about 20 nm to about 30 nm.