Portable capillary electrophoresis instrument with automated injector and contactless conductivity detection

A portable capillary electrophoresis instrument featuring an automated, robust, valve-based injection system was developed. This significantly facilitates operation in the field compared to previous injection approaches. These generally required delicate manual operations which are difficult to perform outside the laboratory environment. The novel system relies on pressurized air for solution delivery and a micromembrane pump for sample aspiration. Contactless conductivity detection was employed for its versatility and low power requirement. The instrument has a compact design, with all components arranged in a briefcase with dimensions of 45 × 35 × 15 cm (w × d × h) and a weight of about 8 kg. It can operate continuously for 9 h in the battery-powered mode. Depending on the task at hand, the injection system allows easy optimization for high separation efficiency, for fast separations, or for low limits of detection. To illustrate these features, the separation of four anions within 16 s is demonstrated as well as the determination of nitrite below 1 μM. The determination of phosphate at a sewage treatment plant was carried out to demonstrate a field application.