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The capillary gap sampler, a new microfluidic platform for direct coupling of automated solid-phase microextraction with ESI-MS

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Abstract

A new technology for rapid, automated coupling of solid-phase microextraction and mass spectrometry is introduced. Use of a so-called capillary gap sampler for automated solid-phase microextraction and direct delivery of the extracted analytes to a mass spectrometer provides certain advantages over existing technologies: coupling of the capillary gap sampler to a mass spectrometer offers quick, automated, and site-specific extraction from very low volume samples. High stability, reusability, and repeatability were achieved through systematic optimization. Diazepam, oxazepam, and nordiazepam were used as test compounds in all experiments. The ability of the sampler to extract benzodiazepines from human plasma (limit of detection 0.3 μg/mL) in the therapeutic range was confirmed. A linear dynamic range from 1 to 1000 ng/mL for all three analytes was found. The relative standard deviation of 20 extractions was between 11% and 17%, for oxazepam, nordiazepam, and diazepam, indicating acceptable repeatability of the method.

Schematic of the desorption step inside the liquid bridge formed between two capillaries in thecapillary gap sampler

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully thank Christof Fattinger for his support of sampler development and during this project and Pablo Dörig for simulations of the flow profile with Comsol Multiphysics. Moreover, we thank the Scientific Center for Optical and Electron Microscopy of ETH Zurich for providing us with resources and services in electron microscopy. We thank the Swiss National Science Foundation for financial support of this project (grant no. 200020_159929). YZ was funded by a Pao Yu-Kong and Pao Zhao-Long scholarship for Chinese scientists studying abroad.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Applied Bioscience, ETH Zürich, HCI E 329 ETH Hönggerberg, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland

    Sahar Ghiasikhou, Ying Zhu & Renato Zenobi

  2. Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zürich, Leonhardstrasse 21, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Marcos Fabrício da Silva

  3. Institute of Microanalytical Systems, Department of Chemistry and Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China

    Ying Zhu

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  1. Sahar Ghiasikhou
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  2. Marcos Fabrício da Silva
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  4. Renato Zenobi
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Correspondence to Renato Zenobi.

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Ghiasikhou, S., da Silva, M.F., Zhu, Y. et al. The capillary gap sampler, a new microfluidic platform for direct coupling of automated solid-phase microextraction with ESI-MS. Anal Bioanal Chem 409, 6873–6883 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-017-0652-8

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