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Thamatam N, Ahn J, Chowdhury M, Sharma A, Gupta P, Marr LC, Nazhandali L, Agah M. A MEMS-enabled portable gas chromatography injection system for trace analysis. Anal Chim Acta 2023; 1261:341209. [PMID: 37147055 DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2023.341209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Growing concerns about environmental conditions, public health, and disease diagnostics have led to the rapid development of portable sampling techniques to characterize trace-level volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from various sources. A MEMS-based micropreconcentrator (μPC) is one such approach that drastically reduces the size, weight, and power constraints offering greater sampling flexibility in many applications. However, the adoption of μPCs on a commercial scale is hindered by a lack of thermal desorption units (TDUs) that easily integrate μPCs with gas chromatography (GC) systems equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID) or a mass spectrometer (MS). Here, we report a highly versatile μPC-based, single-stage autosampler-injection unit for traditional, portable, and micro-GCs. The system uses μPCs packaged in 3D-printed swappable cartridges and is based on a highly modular interfacing architecture that allows easy-to-remove, gas-tight fluidic, and detachable electrical connections (FEMI). This study describes the FEMI architecture and demonstrates the FEMI-Autosampler (FEMI-AS) prototype (9.5 cm × 10 cm x 20 cm, ≈500 gms). The system was integrated with GC-FID, and the performance was investigated using synthetic gas samples and ambient air. The results were contrasted with the sorbent tube sampling technique using TD-GC-MS. FEMI-AS could generate sharp injection plugs (≈240 ms) and detect analytes with concentrations <15 ppb within 20 s and <100 ppt within 20 min of sampling time. With more than 30 detected trace-level compounds from ambient air, the demonstrated FEMI-AS, and the FEMI architecture significantly accelerate the adoption of μPCs on a broader scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nipun Thamatam
- VT MEMS Lab, The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States
| | - Jeonghyeon Ahn
- VT MEMS Lab, The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States
| | - Mustahsin Chowdhury
- VT MEMS Lab, The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States
| | - Arjun Sharma
- CESCA, The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States
| | - Poonam Gupta
- CESCA, The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States
| | - Linsey C Marr
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States
| | - Leyla Nazhandali
- CESCA, The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States
| | - Masoud Agah
- VT MEMS Lab, The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, United States.
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Crucello J, de Oliveira AM, Sampaio NMFM, Hantao LW. Miniaturized systems for gas chromatography: Developments in sample preparation and instrumentation. J Chromatogr A 2022; 1685:463603. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2022.463603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Revised: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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Micropreconcentrators: Recent Progress in Designs and Applications. SENSORS 2022; 22:s22041327. [PMID: 35214229 PMCID: PMC8963072 DOI: 10.3390/s22041327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2021] [Revised: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
The detection of chemicals is a fundamental issue of modern civilisation, however existing methods do not always achieve the desired sensitivity. Preconcentrators, which are devices that allow increasing the concentration of the intended analyte via e.g., adsorption/desorption, are one of the solutions for increasing the sensitivity of chemical detection. The increased detection sensitivity granted by preconcentration can be used to miniaturise detection instruments, granting them portability. The primary goal of this review is to report on and briefly explain the most relevant recent developments related to the design and applications of preconcentrators. The key design elements of preconcentrators and the emerging area of liquid-phase preconcentrators are briefly discussed, with the most significant applications of these devices being highlighted.
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