Portable automated handheld sample collection-preparation instrument for airborne volatile substances

Abstract

The development of the instrument which will significantly ease the in situ samplings of volatile compounds is described. The purpose of this work was to design an automated, portable, handheld sample collection device that operates with monolithic adsorbents. The sampler contains two lithium-ion batteries, collects samples into micro-liter range volume vials, is supplied with a changeable 100 µm inner diameter six cm long capillary with an in-tube monolithic solid-phase micro-extraction adsorbent. Modeling experiments with triethylamine and diethylamine demonstrated that instrument captured samples containing volatile substances in the range of 3.5 to 118 ppm concentration levels in the air. The substances have been analyzed using a dedicated capillary electrophoresis contactless conductivity detection system and determined amounts of volatile substances in the sample solutions ranged between 3.4 and 1010 µM. Only 0.44 mL of air was enough to adsorb substances on the adsorbent, collecting them into 50 µL of water and achieving a preconcentration effect. The developed instrument is expected to find it’s applications where sampled air or gas volume is in µL – mL range: (a) collection of volatile substances near single plant parts in vivo, (b) collection of beetle pheromones in vivo, (c) volume-restricted machinery and other related applications.