Multipurpose chamber for the implementation of gas diffusion, dialysis, solid-phase extraction and precipitation/dissolution in continuous flow analyzers

A multipurpose chamber capable of implementing a variety of continuous separation techniques is reported. The proposed module can be used in conjunction with flow manifolds coupled on-line to optical detectors in order to develop simple autoanalyzers for full sample pretreatment. The analytical applicability of such a device is discussed with specific regard to gas diffusion, dialysis, solid-phase extraction (SPE), and precipitation/dissolution techniques. Its versatility and simplicity are among the main advantages. Four different automated analyzers based on the use of the multipurpose chamber have been developed for monitoring of different quality control parameters of liquid food samples, namely, carbon dioxide in beer, ascorbic acid in fruit juice, caffeine in soft drinks and lactose, fat and protein in milk. The results obtained were compared with those provided by the existing alternatives for the same applications in terms of sensitivity and precision.