Flow-through Picoliter Dispenser: A New Approach for Solvent Elimination in FT-IR Spectroscopy

Abstract

A new interface for FT-IR analysis of liquid samples on the basis of solvent elimination is presented. The approach is based on a piezoactuated flow-through microdispenser, a device built of two microstructured silicon wafers designed for micro-liquid handling. It could be verified during preliminary studies using a sequential injection (SI) system for automated liquid handling that the flow-through microdispenser as a possible interface for flow system–FT-IR analysis has the capability of meeting the demands of hyphenated miniaturized liquid handling systems (e.g., μ-HPLC, microhigh performance liquid chromatography), as it successfully provides highly stable, reliable and reproducible operating conditions for liquid handling in the picoliter range. Moreover, an increase in sensitivity for FT-IR measurements could be achieved, lowering the mass detection limit of sugars (such as the investigated sucrose) to 53 picograms. As is demonstrated on the example of an HPLC separation of a mixture of glucose and fructose, interfacing LC systems to FT-IR using a piezoactuated flow-through microdispenser is a feasible and promising approach.