A MEMS enabled integrated microgc platform for on-site monitoring of water organic compounds

This paper introduces the first MEMS-based purge-and-trap (P&T) system and reports a new microfabricated column for onsite monitoring of water organic compounds (WOCs). The micro purge extractor (μPE) consists of etched cavity inside 2 cm × 3 cm chip and is used to purge WOCs from aqueous sample. The extracted WOCs are collected onto our previously reported micropreconcentrator (μPC) and subsequently separated by a 1m-long MEMS separation column (μSC). The μSC reported herein, is first of its kind as it is coated with highly stable silica nanoparticles (SNP) utilizing layer by layer (LbL) self-assembly technique. The proposed technique eliminates limitations in current aqueous analysis system and can be employed to develop a highly portable on-site water monitoring system.