Mayuri Vilas Ausekar, Ravi Mawale, Pavel Pazdera, Josef Havel

The formation of WxOy+/- clusters in gas phase was studied either by laser desorption ionisation (LDI) or matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation (MALDI). During LDI of WO3(s) the (WO3)n+/- (n = 1-7) clusters were detected. In MALDI, when using carbonaceous materials such as nano-diamonds (NDs), graphene oxide, and fullerene (C60) matrices, much higher clusters were generated with n up to 19. In addition to (WO3)n-· clusters also oxygen rich or deficient species were found in both LDI and MALDI (with total number of clusters exceeding one hundred). Carbonaceous materials like NDs, C60, and graphene oxide were used here for the first time as matrices for generation of (WO3)n+/- clusters in gas phase while new high mass clusters (WO3)n-· (n = 12-19 ) were observed.