Chip-based ion chromatography (chip-IC) with a sensitive five-electrode conductivity detector for the simultaneous detection of multiple ions in drinking water

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 SO₄²⁻) were separated in less than 8 min, and a detection limit (LOD) of 0.6 mg L⁻¹ was achieved for SO₄²⁻. 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.

Xiaoping Li, Honglong Chang