Development of new micro gas preconcentrator using novel electroless gold plating process

This article presents a novel electroless gold plating method to fabricate a thin film heater for a new micro preconcentrator (μPCT) utilized in a micro gas chromatograph (μGC). The gold thin film utilized for heating with a high porosity is fabricated within the surface of the μPCT channel. The μPCT can be heated to >300°C repeatedly by applying a constant electrical power. A commercial Tenax TA was used as an adsorbent. Four volatile organic compounds (VOCs), acetone, benzene, toluene and m-xylene, are successfully collected and concentrated with the narrow peak width at half height (PWHH) (1.92 to 3.88 s). Compared to our previous results, this study presents up to approximately 49% narrower PWHH and approximately six times faster heating.