Simultaneous determination of rare earth elements in ore and anti-corrosion coating samples using a portable capillary electrophoresis instrument with contactless conductivity detection

A compact and high-performance setup of capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE-C4D)

Capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE-C4D) has the advantages of high throughput (simultaneous detection of multiple ions), high separation efficiency (higher than 105 theoretical plates) and rapid analysis capability (less than 5 min for common inorganic ions). A compact CE-C4D system is ideal for water quality control and on-site analysis. It is suitable not only for common cations (e.g. Na+, K+, Li+, NH4+, Ca2+, etc.) and anions (e.g. Cl-, SO42-, BrO3-, etc.) but also for some ions (e.g. lanthanide ions, Pb2+, Cd2+, etc.) that require complex derivatization procedures to be detected by ion chromatography (IC). However, an obvious limitation of the CE-C4D method is that its sensitivity (e.g. 0.3-1 μM for common inorganic ions) is often insufficient for trace analysis (e.g. 1 ppb or 20 nM level for common inorganic ions) without preconcentration. For this technology to become a powerful and routine analytical technique, the system should be made compact while maintaining trace analysis sensitivity. In this study, we developed an all-in-one version of the CE-C4D instrument with custom-made modular components to make it a convenient, compact and high-performance system. The system was designed using direct digital synthesis (DDS) technology to generate programmable sinusoidal waveforms with any frequency for excitation, a kilovolt high-voltage power supply for capillary electrophoresis separation, and an "effective" differential C4D cell with a low-noise circuitry for high-sensitivity detection. We characterized the system with different concentrations of Cs+, and even a low concentration of 20 nM was detectable without preconcentration. Moreover, the optimized CE-C4D setup was applied to analyse mixed ions at a trace concentration of 200 nM with excellent signal-to-noise ratios. In typical applications, the limits of detection based on the 3σ criterion (without baseline filtering) were 9, 10, 24, 5, and 12 nM for K+, Cs+, Li+, Ca2+, and Mg2+, respectively, and about 7, 6, 6 and 6 nM for Br-, ClO4-, BrO3- and SO42-, respectively. Finally, the setup was also applied for the analysis of all 14 lanthanide ions and rare-earth minerals, and it showed an improvement in sensitivity by more than 25 times.

Evaluation of different operating modes of an autosampler for portable capillary electrophoresis

A compact, inexpensive sampler instrument for portable capillary electrophoresis (CE) was developed and tested to monitor common inorganic ions in drinking water samples. The sampler uses peristaltic and vacuum pumps and pinch and check valves to control liquid flows. The paper also addresses various aspects of CE associated with portability, open access instrumentation and prospects of CE for citizen science. The extensive use of items provided by the electronic and computer industry contributes to this trend.

A five-electrode capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector with a low limit of detection

The conductivity detector is a broadly used device that allows for the highly efficient detection of analytes, and continuous efforts have been directed toward lowering the limit of detection. In this study, a five-electrode capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (TIC⁴D) is proposed, which uses copper mesh between the electrodes for a grounding shield to reduce the interference of stray capacitance and noise. After adding the copper mesh shield, the difference value between the response signal and baseline at low KCl concentration is effectively increased, achieving 33 mV for 10^-9 M KCl solution. Meanwhile, for the unshielded detector, the difference is only 18 mV for the KCl solution at the same concentration. The response signal shows a linear function of the logarithm at the range of 10^-4 M to 10^-5 M KCl solution, and the TIC⁴D detector displays a higher slope (0.8448) than the conventional single-input capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (C⁴D: 0.5579) and dual-input capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detectors (DIC⁴D: 0.6173). Moreover, two TIC⁴D detectors are combined to achieve a dual-channel six-input differential capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (SIDC⁴D), reducing the high baseline levels caused by the multi-signal input. By differentially amplifying the output signal, the high baseline levels and noise interference can be effectively reduced. For the 10^-3 M KCl solution, the ratio of the response signal to baseline for SIDC⁴D can reach 8.500, almost 7 times that of TIC⁴D, and a lower limit of detection (LOD) of 3 × 10^-10 M is also achieved. This work may open a new door based on coupled contactless conductivity for detection performance.

Green Analytical Method for Simultaneous Determination of Glucosamine and Calcium in Dietary Supplements by Capillary Electrophoresis with Capacitively Coupled Contactless Conductivity Detection

The need for analytical methods that are fast, affordable, and ecologically friendly is expanding. Because of its low solvent consumption, minimal waste production, and speedy analysis, capillary electrophoresis is considered a "green" choice among analytical separation methods. With these "green" features, we have utilized the capillary electrophoresis method with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE-C⁴D) to simultaneously determine glucosamine and Ca²⁺ in dietary supplements. The CE analysis was performed in fused silica capillaries (50 μm inner diameter, 40 cm total length, 30 cm effective length), and the analytical time was around 5 min. After optimization, the CE conditions for selective determination of glucosamine and Ca²⁺ were obtained, including a 10 mM tris (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane/acetic acid (Tris/Ace) buffer of pH 5.0 as the background electrolyte; separation voltage of 20 kV; and hydrodynamic injection (siphoning) at 25 cm height for 30 s. The method illustrated good linearity over the concentration range of 5.00 to 200 mg/L of for glucosamine (R ² = 0.9994) and 1.00 to 100 mg/L for Ca²⁺ (R ² = 0.9994). Under the optimum conditions, the detection limit of glucosamine was 1.00 mg/L, while that of Ca²⁺ was 0.05 mg/L. The validated method successfully analyzed glucosamine and Ca²⁺ in seven dietary supplement samples. The measured concentrations were generally in line with the values of label claims and with cross-checking data from reference methods (HPLC and ICP-OES).

Simultaneous determination of vitamin B6 and magnesium using capillary electrophoresis coupled with contactless conductivity detection: Method development, validation, and application to pharmaceutical and nutraceutical samples

Vitamins and minerals are usually incorporated in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products, but a simple, rapid, and inexpensive analytical method for their simultaneous determination is still lacking. In this study, we developed a quantification method for pyridoxine (vitamin B₆) and magnesium (Mg) by using purpose-made capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE-C⁴D) instrument. Main analytical conditions include: fused silica capillary (total length 55 cm, effective length 40 cm, inner diameter 50 μm); background electrolyte consisted of 10 mM L-arginine/acetic acid (pH 5) with 20% acetonitrile; separation voltage + 20 kV; hydrodynamic injection (siphoning at 20 cm in 25 s). Detection limits of vitamin B₆ and Mg were 1 and 0.1 mg/L, respectively. Good linearity (R² > 0.999) was observed for vitamin B₆ and Mg calibration curves over concentration ranges of 3-100 and 0.3-200 mg/L, respectively. The method was applied to analyze vitamin B₆ and Mg in several pharmaceutical and nutraceutical samples. The analytical results obtained by our method were in good agreement with reference methods (i.e., HPLC for vitamin B₆ and ICP-OES for Mg). High-efficient and low-cost CE-C⁴D method can accordingly serve as a promising tool for concurrent analysis of inorganic and organic species in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical analysis.

A Study on Double Inputs Direct Contact and Single Output Capacitively Coupled Conductivity Detector

In this paper, an improved double inputs direct contact and single output capacitively coupled conductivity detector (DISODCD) based on traditional contactless capacitively coupled conductivity detector (C⁴D) is developed. The sensor uses double inputs of the contact electrode and capacitively coupled output of the contactless electrode and a lock-in amplifier to reduce interfering noise signals and amplify gain. Parallel circuit counteracts the part of the adverse capacitance reactance introduced by electrode polarization and reduces the effect of the impedance caused by the coupled wall capacitance to measure the resistance of solution. The sensor reduces limit of detection (LOD) of analyte and improves the sensitivity of the device. The LOD of the potassium chloride solution is 1 nM, and the detection range is 0.01 μM to 10 mM in actual testing for a single sample. The ratio of the response of potassium chloride solution to background ultrapure water at low concentrations is better than that of double input capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (DIC⁴D) and direct contact conductivity detection (DCD) under the same condition. In the case that the test cell is contaminated with impurities, pollution of impurities has little effect on the response of DISODCD. In practical application, it has a good service life.

A versatile and low-cost chip-to-world interface: Enabling ICP-MS characterization of isotachophoretically separated lanthanides on a microfluidic device

Microfluidics offer novel and state-of-the-art pathways to process materials. Microfluidic systems drastically reduce timeframes and costs associated with traditional lab-scale efforts in the area of analytical sample preparations. The challenge arises in effectively connecting microfluidics to off-chip analysis tools to accurately characterize samples after treatment on-chip. Fabrication of a chip-to-world connection includes one end of a fused silica capillary interfaced to the outlet of a microfluidic device (MFD). The other end of the capillary is connected to a commercially available CEI-100 interface that passes samples into an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). This coupling creates an inexpensive and simple chip-to-world connection that enables on-chip and off-chip methods of analyzing the separation of rare earth elements. Specifically, this is demonstrated by utilizing isotachophoresis (ITP) on a microfluidic chip to separate up to 14 lanthanides from a homogenous sample into elementally pure bands. The separated analyte zones are successfully transferred across a 7 nL void volume at the microchip-capillary junction, such that separation resolution is maintained and even increased through the interface and into the ICP-MS, where the elemental composition of the sample is analyzed. Lanthanide samples of varying composition are detected using ICP-MS, demonstrating this versatile and cost-effective approach, which maintains the separation quality achieved on the MFD. This simple connection enables fast, low-cost sample preparation immediately prior to injection into an ICP-MS or other analytical instrument.

Modular instrumentation for capillary electrophoresis with laser induced fluorescence detection using plug-and-play microfluidic, electrophoretic and optic modules

This study reports on the development of a novel instrument for capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with laser induced fluorescence (LIF) detection that is inspired by the Lego-toy concept. The Lego CE-LIF design is an evolution of purpose-made CE instrumentation, allowing the users to construct their own analytical device with a high degree of standardization (i.e. a "standard" setup) without requirement of mechanical and electronic workshop facilities. To allow instrument reproduction outside the original fabrication laboratory, which is not trivial for in-house-built CE systems, the new design is based on unprecedent 'plugging' hyphenation of various off-the-shelf parts available for microfluidics, optics and electrophoresis. To render the operation with Lego CE-LIF optimal, we developed a new background electrolyte (BGE), using for the first time extremely high concentrations of zwitterionic and large weakly charged species for much improvement of detection sensitivity. The Lego CE-LIF was demonstrated for separation and detection of oligosaccharides labelled with 8-aminopyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid (APTS). The new gel-free BGE for oligosaccharide analysis also allowed simplification of the conventional CE-LIF protocol used with commercial instruments while keeping satisfactory separation performances. Furthermore, the new BGE is fully compatible with a non-thermostatted Lego CE instrument thanks to low current and therefore low heat generation under application of a high voltage.

Determination of carbapenem antibiotics using a purpose-made capillary electrophoresis instrument with contactless conductivity detection

In this study, the employment of a purpose-made capillary electrophoresis (CE) instrument with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C⁴D) as a simple and cost-effective approach for simultaneous determination of different carbapenem antibiotics is reported. The developed CE-C⁴D approach was for the first time applied for quality control of various pharmaceutical formulations in Vietnam, as well as for therapeutic monitoring of these antibiotics in plasma samples from patients under intensive care. Four of the most popular carbapenems in Vietnam, doripenem, meropenem, imipenem and ertapenem, were determined using an electrolyte composed of 10 mM Tris adjusted to pH 8.0 with acetic acid. The best detection limits achieved using the developed CE-C⁴D method were 0.36 mg/L and 0.45 mg/L for pharmaceutical and plasma samples, respectively. Good agreement between results from CE-C⁴D and the confirmation method (HPLC-PDA) was achieved, with a coefficient of determination (r²) for the two pairs of data of 0.9967.

Contactless conductivity detection for analytical techniques: Developments from 2016 to 2018

The publications concerning capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection for the 2-year period from mid-2016 to mid-2018 are covered in this update to the earlier reviews of the series. Relatively few reports on fundamental investigations or new designs have appeared in the literature in this time interval, but the development of new applications with the detection method has continued strongly. Most often, contactless conductivity measurements have been employed for the detection of inorganic or small organic ions in conventional capillary electrophoresis, less often in microchip electrophoresis. A number of other uses, such as detection in chromatography or the gauging of bubbles in streams have also been reported.

Clinical screening of paraquat in plasma samples using capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection: Towards rapid diagnosis and therapeutic treatment of acute paraquat poisoning in Vietnam

The employment of a purpose-made capillary electrophoresis (CE) instrument with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C⁴D) as a simple and cost-effective solution for clinical screening of paraquat in plasma samples for early-stage diagnosis of acute herbicide poisoning is reported. Paraquat was determined using an electrolyte composed of 10mM histidine adjusted to pH 4 with acetic acid. A detection limit of 0.5mg/L was achieved. Good agreement between results from CE-C⁴D and the confirmation method (HPLC-UV) was obtained, with relative errors for the two pairs of data better than 20% for 31 samples taken from paraquat-intoxicated patients. The results were used by medical doctors for identification and prognosis of acute paraquat poisoning cases. The objective of the work is the deployment of the developed approach in rural areas in Vietnam as a low-cost solution to reduce the mortality rate due to accidental or suicidal ingestion of paraquat.

Separation and Sensitive Detection of Lanthanides by Capillary Electrophoresis and Contactless Conductivity Detection

A rapid and sensitive capillary zone electrophoresis method for the simultaneous separation and determination of lanthanide ions, combined with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4D), is reported. The influence of experimental parameters on separation was investigated. The optimal separation conditions were obtained when 4.5 mM 2-hydroxyisobutyric acid and 1 mM acetic acid (HAc) at pH 4.5 were used as buffer solution. Under these conditions, complete separation of all 14 lanthanide ions was achieved in 6 min. With the use of the C4D detector, the sensitive detection of non-UV active lanthanide ions was achieved without the need of a UV active ligand or a visualization agent. The sensitivities were further enhanced with a sample stacking procedure. The limits of detection were to be found between 2.77 and 8.26 nmol/L and the limits of quantification were between 9.29 and 27.5 nmol/L for 14 lanthanide ions.