Ontwikkeling van een draagbare scheidingssensor voor directe analyse van doelionen

The analysis of ions in liquid samples is needed to solve clinical, environmental, and industrial problems. Aspects such as response time, throughput, as well as the price of analyses are of the essence. There are currently no good solutions for at-line and field analysis of ions in liquid samples at the required trace levels.
The development of a portable separation sensor for ions in liquid samples holds the promise to revolutionize process control by providing real-time feedback for quality control and optimization of the product yield. The microfluidic chip would potentially allow the analysis of minute amounts of sample (important for clinical diagnostics and life-science research) and the reduction of waste streams, which is an important aspect for costs in the medical sector as well as in the clean rooms of the electronic industry. When such analyzers can directly be operated by laboratory personnel for clinical analyses, a significant time gain can be established as well as a dramatic cost reduction.
The aim is to create a low-cost separation sensor for the analysis of target ions in liquid samples in different (biomedical, industrial, and environmental) matrices. The sensor is composed of different layers of thermoplastic polymer substrate stacked on top of each other. One layer integrates sample injection and the separation channel containing a polymer-monolithic stationary phase. A second layer comprises a membrane suppressor, to suppress the conductivity of the mobile phase, and electrodes for conductivity detection. The stack will be placed in a clasp-lock device ensuring zero-dead-volume chip-chip connections and simple interchangeability of modules. Finally, a fully integrated (single-chip) analyzer will be developed to improve robustness and ease of use.
The broad applicability of the sensor will be demonstrated by addressing major bottlenecks currently encountered in different application domains in the Flemish industry, i.e.,
Application 1 (Medical diagnostics): Impurity profiling 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose used for medical imaging. On successful implementation of the proposed device, sample transfer to the lab can be omitted and the analysis time is reduced. Hence, more time becomes available for the PET scan improving the quality of medical diagnostics and more patients can be treated. Furthermore, personnel exposure is reduced and waste streams are reduced.
Application 2 (Chemical industry): A high-throughput method will be developed for the analysis of aliphatic and aromatic amines and their degradation products to provide real-time feedback for quality control and optimization of product yield in the production of high-quality engineering plastics.
Application 3 (Electronic and electric-power industry): Robust screening methods will be developed for ions (small inorganic ions, corrosives, and corrosion inhibitors) in process-water streams to guaranty product quality and to safeguard the continuous operation of production process.

Onderzoekshypothese: Development of a portable separation platform with integrated sensor for ions in liquid samples holds the promise to revolutionize process control and to optimize product quality.