Capillary isotachophoresis for the analysis of ionic liquid entities

Chromatographic Techniques in the Research Area of Lithium Ion Batteries: Current State-of-the-Art

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are widely used in numerous application areas, including portable consumer electronics, medicine, grid storage, electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. One major challenge during operation and storage is the degradation of the cell constituents, which is called aging. This phenomenon drastically reduces both storage lifetime and cycle lifetime. Due to numerous aging effects, originating from both the individual LIB cell constituents as well as their interactions, a wide variety of instruments and methods are necessary for aging investigations. In particular, chromatographic methods are frequently applied for the analysis of the typically used liquid non-aqueous battery electrolytes based on organic solvents or ionic liquids. Moreover, chromatographic methods have also been recently used to investigate the composition of electrode materials. In this review, we will give an overview of the current state of chromatographic methods in the context of LIB cell research.

Determination of residual chloride content in ionic liquids using LA-ICP-MS

Residual chloride in ionic liquids is analyzed using LA-ICP-MS in a sustainable and easy-to-handle approach.

Recent advances in enrichment techniques for trace analysis in capillary electrophoresis

CE is gaining great popularity as a well-established separation technique for many fields such as pharmaceutical research, clinical application, environmental monitoring, and food analysis, owing to its high resolving power, rapidity, and small amount of samples and reagents required. However, the sensitivity in CE analysis is still considered as being inferior to that in HPLC analysis. Diverse enrichment methods and techniques have been increasingly developed for overcoming this issue. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in enrichment techniques containing off-line preconcentration (sample preparation) and on-line concentration (sample stacking) to enhancing sensitivity in CE for trace analysis over the last 5 years. Some relatively new cleanup and preconcentration methods involving the use of dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction, supercritical fluid extraction, matrix solid-phase dispersion, etc., and the continued use and improvement of conventional SPE, have been comprehensively reviewed and proved effective preconcentration alternatives for liquid, semisolid, and solid samples. As for CE on-line stacking, we give an overview of field amplication, sweeping, pH regulation, and transient isotachophoresis, and the coupling of multiple modes. Moreover, some limitations and comparisons related to such methods/techniques are also discussed. Finally, the combined use of various enrichment techniques and some significant attempts are proposed to further promote analytical merits in CE.