Chip-based ion chromatography (chip-IC) with a sensitive five-electrode conductivity detector for the simultaneous detection of multiple ions in drinking water.
MICROSYSTEMS & NANOENGINEERING 2020;
6:66. [PMID:
34567677 PMCID:
PMC8433475 DOI:
10.1038/s41378-020-0175-x]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2019] [Revised: 03/25/2020] [Accepted: 04/26/2020] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The emerging need for accurate, efficient, inexpensive, and multiparameter monitoring of water quality has led to interest in the miniaturization of benchtop chromatography systems. This paper reports a chip-based ion chromatography (chip-IC) system in which the microvalves, sample channel, packed column, and conductivity detector are all integrated on a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) chip. A laser-based bonding technique was developed to guarantee simultaneous robust sealing between the homogeneous and heterogeneous interfaces. A five-electrode-based conductivity detector was presented to improve the sensitivity for nonsuppressed anion detection. Common anions (F-, Cl-, NO3 -, and SO4 2-) were separated in less than 8 min, and a detection limit (LOD) of 0.6 mg L-1 was achieved for SO4 2-. Tap water was also analyzed using the proposed chip-IC system, and the relative deviations of the quantified concentration were less than 10% when compared with that a commercial IC system.
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