title: A microfluidic chip for ICPMS sample introduction.
abstract: This protocol discusses the fabrication and usage of a disposable low cost microfluidic chip as sample introduction system for inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). The chip produces monodisperse aqueous sample droplets in perfluorohexane (PFH). Size and frequency of the aqueous droplets can be varied in the range of 40 to 60 µm and from 90 to 7,000 Hz, respectively. The droplets are ejected from the chip with a second flow of PFH and remain intact during the ejection. A custom-built desolvation system removes the PFH and transports the droplets into the ICPMS. Here, very stable signals with a narrow intensity distribution can be measured, showing the monodispersity of the droplets. We show that the introduction system can be used to quantitatively determine iron in single bovine red blood cells. In the future, the capabilities of the introduction device can easily be extended by the integration of additional microfluidic modules.
authors: Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich.
authors: Pascal E
authors: PE
authors: Verboket
authors: Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich.
authors: Olga
authors: O
authors: Borovinskaya
authors: Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich.
authors: Nicole
authors: N
authors: Meyer
authors: Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich; guenther@inorg.chem.ethz.ch.
authors: Detlef
authors: D
authors: Günther
authors: Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich; dittrich@org.chem.ethz.ch.
authors: Petra S
authors: PS
authors: Dittrich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004867:Equipment Design; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000737:chemistry; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000737:chemistry; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D005466:Fluorocarbons; D007501:Iron; C078626:perflexane