High-resolution Arduino-based data acquisition devices for microscale separation systems.

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Instrumentation
• Open-Source Hardware

Background:

• Commercial data acquisition systems can be expensive and inaccessible for many laboratories.
• There is a need for cost-effective and user-friendly instrumentation for analytical chemists.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design, construct, and evaluate simple, inexpensive open-source data acquisition systems.
• To provide analytical chemists with accessible, high-performance instrumentation.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Arduino Nano microcontroller with various analog-to-digital converter modules (ADS 1115, MCP 3424, LTC 2400).
• Developed systems with resolutions ranging from 16 to 24-bit.
• Provided full schematics and source codes for easy construction.

Main Results:

• Achieved excellent performance comparable to commercial 24-bit devices.
• The LTC 2400-based system demonstrated performance rivaling a high-end commercial converter (ORCA 2800).
• The developed system cost less than 50 USD, significantly lower than the commercial counterpart (870 USD).

Conclusions:

• The open-source data acquisition systems offer a cost-effective and high-performance alternative to commercial solutions.
• These systems are suitable for analytical chemistry applications, as validated by capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection.
• The project empowers analytical chemists by providing accessible, well-documented instrumentation for inorganic ion separation.