Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c02883
Title (Primary) Coupling droplet microfluidics with ion mobility spectrometry for monitoring chemical conversions at nanoliter scale
Author Hartner, N.T.; Wink, K.; Raddatz, C.-R.; Thoben, C.; Schirmer, M.; Zimmermann, S.; Belder, D.
Source Titel Analytical Chemistry
Year 2021
Department SOMA
Volume 93
Issue 40
Page From 13615
Page To 13623
Language englisch
Topic T7 Bioeconomy
Supplements https://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/acs.analchem.1c02883/suppl_file/ac1c02883_si_001.pdf
Abstract We introduce the coupling of droplet microfluidics and ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) to address the challenges of label-free and chemical-specific detection of compounds in individual droplets. In analogy to the established use of mass spectrometry, droplet–IMS coupling can be also achieved via electrospray ionization but with significantly less instrumental effort. Because IMS instruments do not require high-vacuum systems, they are very compact, cost-effective, and robust, making them an ideal candidate as a chemical-specific end-of-line detector for segmented flow experiments. Herein, we demonstrate the successful coupling of droplet microfluidics with a custom-built high-resolution drift tube IMS system for monitoring chemical reactions in nL-sized droplets in an oil phase. The analytes contained in each droplet were assigned according to their characteristic ion mobility with limit of detections down to 200 nM to 1 μM and droplet frequencies ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 Hz. Using a custom sheath flow electrospray interface, we have further achieved the chemical-specific monitoring of a biochemical transformation catalyzed by a few hundred yeast cells, at single droplet level.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=25316
Hartner, N.T., Wink, K., Raddatz, C.-R., Thoben, C., Schirmer, M., Zimmermann, S., Belder, D. (2021):
Coupling droplet microfluidics with ion mobility spectrometry for monitoring chemical conversions at nanoliter scale
Anal. Chem. 93 (40), 13615 - 13623 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c02883