Oulian Li

A thin cover glass chip for contactless conductivity detection in microchip capillary electrophoresis.

A microfabricated thin glass chip for contactless conductivity detection in chip capillary electrophoresis is presented in this contribution. Injection and separation channels were photolithographed and chemically etched on the surface of substrate glass, which was bonded with a thin cover glass (100microm) to construct a new microchip. The chip was placed over an independent contactless electrode plate. Owing to the thinness between channel and electrodes, comparatively low excitation voltage (20-110V in V(p-p)) and frequency (40-65kHz) were suitable, and favorable signal could be obtained. This microchip capillary electrophoresis device was used in separation and detection of inorganic ions, amino acids and alkaloids in amoorcorn tree bark and golden thread in different buffer solutions. The detection limit of potassium ion was down to 10micromol/L. The advantages of this microchip system exist in the relative independence between the microchip and the detection electrodes. It is convenient to the replacement of chip and other operations. Detection in different position of the channel would also be available.

Dual fluorescence/contactless conductivity detection for microfluidic chip.

A new dual detection system for microchip is reported. Both fluorescence detector (FD) and contactless conductivity detector (CCD) were combined together and integrated on a microfluidic chip. They shared a common detection position and responded simultaneously. A blue light-emitting diode was used as excitation source and a small planar photodiode was used to collect the emitted fluorescence in fluorescence detection, which made the device more compact and portable. The coupling of the fluorescence and contactless conductivity modes at the same position of a single separation channel enhanced the detection characterization of sample and offered simultaneous detection information of both fluorescent and charged specimen. The detection conditions of the system were optimized. K(+), Na(+), fluorescein sodium, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and FITC-labeled amino acids were used to evaluate the performance of the dual detection system. The limits of detection (LOD) of FD for fluorescein Na(+), FITC, FITC-labeled arginine (Arg), glycine (Gly) and phenylalanine (Phe) were 0.02micromolL(-1), 0.05micromolL(-1), 0.16micromolL(-1), 0.15micromolL(-1), 0.12micromolL(-1) respectively, and the limits of detection (LOD) of CCD achieved 0.58micromolL(-1) and 0.39micromolL(-1) for K(+) and Na(+) respectively.

Electromagnetic induction detector for capillary electrophoresis and its application in pharmaceutical analysis.

A new electromagnetic induction detector for capillary electrophoresis and its application are described. The detector is consisted of an inductor, a resistor, a high-frequency signal generator and a high-frequency millivoltmeter. The conditions affecting the response of the detector, including dimension of the magnetic ring, position of the capillary, number of coil turns, frequency, excitation voltage and value of the resistor were examined and optimized. The feasibility of the proposed detector was evaluated by detection of inorganic ions and separation of amino aids. Its quantification applicability was investigated by determination of aspirin and paracetamol in pharmaceutical preparation (Akafen powder). The primary factors affecting separation efficiency, which include variety of buffer, buffer concentration, injection time and injection height and separation voltage, were researched. Experimental results demonstrated that this new detector showed a well-defined correlation between sample concentrations and responses (r=0.997-0.999), with detection limits of 30 μmol L(-1) for aspirin and 10 μmol L(-1) for paracetamol, as well as good reproducibility and stability. Compared with currently available detection techniques, this new detector has several advantages, such as simple construction, no complicated elements, ease of assembly and operation, and potential for universal applications. It can be an alternative to the traditional methods in the quality control of the pharmaceutical preparations.