Micro Vapor Extractor For On-Site Determinations Of Volatile Organic Compounds In Water And Biofluids

A passive, membrane-mediated, microfabricated vapor extractor (mu VE) chip for collecting volatile organic compounds (VOC) from water and biofluids is presented. Its performance when interfaced to a micro-scale gas chromatograph (mu GC) prototype is demonstrated. A mixture of 4 VOCs spiked into synthetic urine at ppm concentrations was extracted by the 2.8x2.3 cm mu VE chip from a 700-mu L sample in 3.5 min, and then preconcentrated, injected, separated and detected by mu-GC in similar to 80 sec with detection limits as low as 660 ppb. Response patterns provided by the mu-GC sensor-array detector facilitated VOC identification. The hybrid mu VE-mu GC microsystem may eventually permit rapid field/clinical analyses of water contaminants and urinary biomarkers of exposure and disease.