Does the chromatomembrane cell improve the quality of environmental analysis?

With the intention of combining partition chromatography and membrane techniques, we succeeded in developing the chromatomembrane cell which has proved to be reliable as an extraction and preconcentration manifold in flow injection analysis. With this technique, two immiscible phases can be induced to flow independently through a block of biporous (macro and micro) PTFE in order to promote analyte exchange. Consequently, the application of chromatomembrane cells in environmental analysis resolves all problems of sample pretreatment simply and effectively whenever a preconcentration step by gas/liquid or liquid/liquid solvent extraction is included. The link-up with analyzers (AAS, UV-Vis photometry, GC, IC, HPLC, voltammetry, ion selective electrodes, etc.) makes possible computer aided automization for environmental monitoring.