Technology towards a lab-on-a-chip GC for environmental research.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of York
Department Name: Chemistry
Abstract
A major analytical science success of the 20th Century has been the development of technology to detect trace level chemicals in highly complex mixtures and at the parts per trillion level and below. Technology development in this area has been primarily focussed on issues of sensitivity and specificity often at the expense of unit cost, size or operational ease. A major challenge for the 21st Century is to develop miniaturised separation, detection and sensor technologies and harness them together to form highly specific measurement techniques in forms that are low cost, fully autonomous and yet which have all the capabilities of today's laboratory based instruments. By reducing size and power allows instruments to be used in the field and in locations where mains electricity may not necessarily be available. This project is concerned with developing fundamental technology needed to produce a low power but high sensitivity gas chromatograph (GC). GC is a major analytical method and is used throughout environmental science to detect and identify chemicals in air, water and soils. The size and power consumption of current commercially available instruments is such that they are used almost exclusively in the laboratory and are not field portable. The core technologies to be developed in this project are micro fabricated gas chromatography devices wet-etched at the micron level onto alkali metal oxide glass monoliths. This is a so-called lab-on-a-chip technology. This is a very new engineering possibility and is one which is now being activity exploited for biochemical and pharmaceutical applications through the explosion of interest in lab-on-a-chip microfluidics. The technology has yet to be applied to gaseous matrices and this project therefore sits as state of the art with respect to microfluidic research and development. Through the use of a planar lab-on-a-chip, a target is to reduce energy consumption from current values of the order ~5 x 107 J, to around 500 J. / Effectively to move from a 2-3kW device requiring mains electricity to a device using peak powers of the order 50-100W. At these energy levels device operation from solar / wind charging becomes feasible and disconnection from mains electricity, a holy grail for very remote monitoring, becomes possible.
Publications
Lewis AC
(2010)
Microfabricated planar glass gas chromatography with photoionization detection.
in Journal of chromatography. A
Lidster RT
(2011)
The application of two total transfer valve modulators for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography of volatile organic compounds.
in Journal of separation science
Pang X
(2011)
Carbonyl compounds in gas and particle phases of mainstream cigarette smoke.
in The Science of the total environment
Pang X
(2012)
A microfluidic lab-on-chip derivatisation technique for the measurement of gas phase formaldehyde
in Analytical Methods
Edwards S
(2013)
A compact comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) approach for the analysis of biogenic VOCs
in Anal. Methods
Pang X
(2013)
Microfluidic lab-on-a-chip derivatization for gaseous carbonyl analysis.
in Journal of chromatography. A
Le Breton M
(2013)
Airborne hydrogen cyanide measurements using a chemical ionisation mass spectrometer for the plume identification of biomass burning forest fires
in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Gogus F
(2014)
Volatiles of Fresh and Commercial Sweet Red Pepper Pastes: Processing Methods and Microwave Assisted Extraction
in International Journal of Food Properties
Ozel M
(2014)
Effect of roasting method and oil reduction on volatiles of roasted Pistacia terebinthus using direct thermal desorption-GCxGC-TOF/MS
in LWT - Food Science and Technology
RamÃrez N
(2014)
Exposure to nitrosamines in thirdhand tobacco smoke increases cancer risk in non-smokers.
in Environment international
Pang X
(2014)
A smog chamber comparison of a microfluidic derivatisation measurement of gas-phase glyoxal and methylglyoxal with other analytical techniques
in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
Pang X
(2015)
Microfluidic derivatisation technique for determination of gaseous molecular iodine with GC-MS.
in Talanta
Lewis A
(2016)
Validate personal air-pollution sensors.
in Nature
Lewis AC
(2016)
Evaluating the performance of low cost chemical sensors for air pollution research.
in Faraday discussions
Wang CM
(2017)
Unexpectedly high concentrations of monoterpenes in a study of UK homes.
in Environmental science. Processes & impacts
Pang X
(2017)
Electrochemical ozone sensors: A miniaturised alternative for ozone measurements in laboratory experiments and air-quality monitoring
in Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical
Pang X
(2019)
Low-cost photoionization sensors as detectors in GC × GC systems designed for ambient VOC measurements.
in The Science of the total environment
Description | A new technology has been developed that allows for miniturised analytical devices for the measurement of air pollution. The technology is based on glass microfabrication and has been applied successfully in the field for the measurement of organic pollutants. The technology developed has been used to support air pollution research, in addition to new applications for measurement in the security sector and consumer products. |
Exploitation Route | Technology is currently being commercialised by a UK SME and used by a range of different organisations, including DSTL and Markes International. |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Electronics,Environment |
Description | Technology development in the project is being exploited by a UK SME and trials have been completed with DSTL to develop a device for the detection of hazardous chemicals in air. Some of the component technologies are now being commercialised and are available as products via a UK manufacturer. |
First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Chemicals,Environment |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Description | Member of Government Committees and Advisory Groups |
Geographic Reach | Europe |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | Environmental metrology: Expert advice and contribution to the development and assessment of the National Measurement System programme, co-ordinated by the National Measurement Office, part of BIS. This includes evaluation and recommendations on programme |
Description | Knowledge Transfer Partnership |
Organisation | Markes International |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Commercialised a new product for analysis of volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere. |
Collaborator Contribution | Provided instrumentation and engineering expertise |
Impact | New product brought to market |
Start Year | 2014 |