Study of Monolithic Integrated Micro Gas Chromatography Chip

Abstract A monolithic micro gas chromatography (μGC) chip which integrated the micro separation column (μSC) and the micro thermal conductivity detector (μTCD) based on MEMS (Micro-electro-mechanical systems) technique was fabricated. Compared to the state of the art, the μSC with high depth-to-width ratio channels that was coated with mesoporous silica nanoparticles as stationary phase could effectively improve the column capacity and separation performance. Besides, the stable suspending μTCD, which was designed and fabricated in two ports of the μGC chip, could availably enhance the thermal isolation and reliability of the device. The mixture of light hydrocarbons (methane, ethane, propane and butane) could be separated from each other and detected by this monolithic integrated μGC chip, in which the overall analysis and detection time was only 33 seconds, the separation resolution of ethane and propane was 8.34, and the number of theoretical plate was as high as 11420. The monolithic integrated μGC chip has many advantages such as good separation resolution, high column efficiency and short analysis time, and is suitable for portable gas chromatographic field and onsite detection.