CA2466197A1

CA2466197A1 - Device and method for micro sorbent extraction and desorption

Info

Publication number: CA2466197A1
Application number: CA002466197A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Janusz Pawliszyn
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-11-26
Filing date: 2004-05-13
Publication date: 2004-05-13
Anticipated expiration: 2024-05-13
Also published as: CA2466197C

Abstract

This invention relates to a micro cartridge and to a method of using the micro cartridge to sample and extract components of interest from a gas or a liquid.
The cartridge contains a sorbent and has passages through which a pressure drop can be created to permit access between the gas or liquid and the sorbent. The micro cartridge is elongated and has one pointed end to fit into the injection port of a suitable analysis instrument where the components of interest are desorbed.
The cartridge has two ends that are covered by removable closures and preferably has a diameter of less than 1 millimeter. The cartridge can be used with micro machine components and components made using nano technology.

Claims

1. A device for sampling and extracting components of interest from fluid, said device comprising an elongated micro cartridge, said cartridge containing a sorbent and having passages therein through which a pressure drop can be created within said cartridge to permit access between said fluid and said sorbent, said micro cartridge being sized and shaped to fit into an injection port of a suitable analysis instrument where said components of interest can be desorbed.

2. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said passages have a size that is substantially smaller than a cross section of said cartridge.

3. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said cartridge has two ends that are covered by removable closures.

4. A device as claimed in Claim 3 wherein one of the closures has a tapered shape to allow the cartridge to penetrate a septum of said analysis instrument.

5. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein there are means to cool said cartridge when there is access between said fluid and said sorbent.

6. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein there are means to heat said cartridge during desorption.

7. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein an interior of the cartridge is filled with said sorbent.

8. A device as claimed in Claim 4 wherein said sorbent is a segmented sorbent.

9. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said sorbent consists of small size particulate material.

10. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said sorbent is a highly porous monolithic sorbent prepared by polymerization of appropriate monomers directly in said micro cartridge.

11. A device as claimed in Claim 10 wherein said highly porous monolithic sorbent is derived from a sol-gel process.

12. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 9, 10, or 11 wherein said sorbent is bound to an inner surface of said micro cartridge.

13. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 9, 10 or 11 wherein said sorbent has a reagent which selectively reacts with components of interest.

14. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 4 or 8 wherein there are two passages, one passage being located near each end of the cartridge.

15. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 4 or 8 wherein there is a sealed housing into which said cartridge can be inserted and removed.

16. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 4 or 8 wherein there is a sealed housing into which said device can be inserted and removed, said housing having two parts, a first part sealing any passages at one end of the housing and a second part sealing any passages at another end of the cartridge.

17. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 4 or 8 wherein the cartridge is a needle, said needle having a side passage at an end containing a sorbent and a second passage at an opposite end.

18. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 4 or 8 wherein the cartridge is sized and shaped to fit within a cartridge carousel of said analysis instrument said analysis instrument being automated, said carousel having a plurality of cartridge receptors therein, said passages being sealed when said cartridge is located in one receptor.

19. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said fluid is a gas and said instrument is a capillary gas chromatograph.

20. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said fluid is a liquid and said analysis instrument is a liquid chromatographic instrument.

21. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said analysis instrument is a capillary electrophoresis instrument.

22. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said analysis instrument is a micro machined instrument.

23. A device as claimed in Claim 19 wherein the injector port has a liner and desorption is carried out directly from said cartridge to said liner.

24. A device as claimed in Claim 23 wherein said liner contains a restriction which seals around said cartridge during desorption, said cartridge being arranged to receive desorption fluid which can flow through said sorbent.

25. A device as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the segmented sorbent has three segments.

26. A device as claimed in Claim 25 wherein one of said passages is an inlet.

27. A device as claimed in Claim 26 wherein a weakest sorption segment of the sorbent is located closest to the inlet, a strongest sorption segment is located furtherest from said inlet and a medium sorption segment is located between the weakest and the strongest segments.

28. A device as claimed in Claim 27 wherein the weakest sorption segment is made of (polydimethyl)siloxane, said medium sorption segment is made of poly(divinylbenzine) and said strongest sorption segment is made from activated carbon sorbent.

29. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the cartridge is connected to a pump.

30. A device as claimed in Claim 29 wherein the pump is a syringe.

31. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 4 or 8 wherein said cartridge is connected into said injection port in such a manner that carrier gas can flow through said cartridge into said port to assist in desorption.

32. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 4 or 8 wherein there is a housing into which said device can be inserted and removed, said housing having openings therein corresponding to passages in said micro cartridge to enable sampling to be conducted through said micro cartridge while said micro cartridge remains within said housing with removable seals for said openings.

33. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 4 or 8 wherein there is a housing into which said device can be inserted and removed, said housing having openings therein corresponding to passages in said cartridge to enable sampling to be conducted through said cartridge while said cartridge remains within said housing by diffusion, with removable seals for said openings.

34. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 4 or 8 wherein there is a housing into which said device can be inserted and removed, said housing having one opening corresponding to one passage in said cartridge to enable sampling to be conducted through said cartridge while said cartridge remains within said housing by diffusion, with a removable seal for said opening, said opening having a substantially small diameter compared to its length.

35. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 4 or 8 wherein said cartridge is made from a material selected from the group of metal, deactivated metal, silco steel, fused silica, nano technology materials and micro machined components.

36. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 4 or 8 wherein said micro cartridge has an outside diameter that is substantially less than two millimeters.

37. A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1, 4 or 8 wherein said cartridge has an outside diameter that is substantially less than one millimeter.

38. A method of using a device for sampling and extracting components of interest from fluid, the device having an elongated micro cartridge containing a sorben and having passages therein through which a pressure drop can be created within said cartridge to permit access between said fluid and said sorbent, said method comprising exposing the micro cartridge and sorbent to a fluid, inserting said cartridge into an injection port of a suitable analysis instrument and desorbing the components of interest from said cartridge.

39. A method as claimed in Claim 38 including the steps of connecting the cartridge to a supply of carrier fluid when the cartridge has been inserted in the injection port, causing the carrier fluid to flow through said cartridge into said injection port containing an appropriate liner to assist in desorption and to transport analytes of interest into said instrument.

40. A method as claimed in Claim 39 wherein said liner has a restriction which can seal around said cartridge, said method including the steps of inserting the micro cartridge into said injection port in a manner that said restriction seals around said cartridge, thereby forcing the flow of carrier fluid through said cartridge.

41. A method as claimed in Claim 38 including the steps of using the cartridge for sampling off site, inserting the cartridge into a sealed housing immediately after completing said sampling, transporting the cartridge to a suitable analysis instrument and removing the cartridge from the housing.

42. A method as claimed in Claim 39 including the steps of placing the cartridge into a multiple cartridge holder in such a manner that the cartridge is sealed while it is in the multiple cartridge holder, removing the cartridge from the multiple cartridge holder immediately before placing the cartridge into the injection port.

43. A method as claimed in Claim 42 wherein said analytical instrument is automated, said method including the steps of automatically removing a micro cartridge from said multiple cartridge holder and placing said micro cartridge into the injection port of an analytical instrument and automatically carrying out desorption.

44. A method as claimed in Claim 39 wherein there is a housing into which said micro cartridge can be removably placed, said housing having one opening therein corresponding to one passage of said cartridge, said opening having a substantially small diameter compared to a length of said opening, said method including the steps of placing the cartridge in said housing sealing said housing and sealing said opening with a plug, removing said plug immediately before sampling, carrying out sampling by diffusion without removing said cartridge from said housing, replacing said plug in said opening when sampling has been completed transporting the housing and cartridge to an analysis instrument, removing the cartridge from the housing, placing the cartridge into an injection port of said analysis instrument and carrying out desorption.

45. A device for sampling or extracting a component of interest from a fluid, said device comprising an elongated micro cartridge, said cartridge containing a sorbent and having passages therein to create a pressure drop within said cartridge to permit access between said fluid and said sorbent, said micro cartridge being sized and shaped to fit into an injection port of an analysis instrument where said component of interest can be desorbed.

46. A device as claimed in Claim 45 wherein an interior of the cartridge is filled with the sorbent and said sorbent is being highly porous.

47. A device as claimed in Claim 46 wherein said highly porous sorbent is a monolithic sorbent prepared by polymerization of monomers directly in said micro cartridge.

48. A device as claimed in Claim 45, 46 or 47 wherein said sorbent is a segmented sorbent, wherein a weakest sorption segment of the sorbent is located closest to the inlet, a strongest sorption segment is located furthest from said inlet and an intermediate sorption segment is located between the weakest and the strongest segments.

49 A device as claimed in Claim 47 wherein said sorbent is bound to an inner surface of said micro cartridge.

50. A device as claimed in Claim 45 wherein said sorbent has a reagent which selectively reacts with the component of interest.

51. A device as claimed in Claim 45 further comprising means to cool said cartridge when there is access between said fluid and said sorbent.

52. An apparatus comprising a device as claimed in Claim 45, the apparatus comprising a sealed housing into which said device can be inserted and removed, said housing having two parts, a first part sealing passages at a second end of the housing and a second part sealing passages at a first end of the cartridge.

53. A device as claimed in Claim 45 wherein the cartridge is a needle, said needle having a first side passage at an end of the needle containing a sorbent and a second passage at an opposite end of the needle.

54. A device as claimed in Claim 45 wherein the cartridge is sized and shaped to fit within a cartridge carousel of said analysis instrument, said analysis instrument being automated, said carousel having at least one cartridge receptor therein, said passages being sealed when said cartridge is located in the receptor.

55. A device as claimed in Claim 45 wherein said cartridge is connected to an injection port of the analytical instrument so that fluid can flow through said cartridge into said port to assist desorption.

56. A device as claimed in Claim 55 wherein the injection port has a liner and desorption is carried out directly from said cartridge to said liner, said liner containing a restriction to seal said cartridge during desorption, said cartridge being arranged to receive desorption fluid which flows through said sorbent.

57. A apparatus comprising a device as claimed in Claim 45 wherein the apparatus has a housing into which said device can be inserted and removed, said housing having an opening corresponding to a passage in said cartridge to enable sampling through said cartridge while said cartridge remains within said housing by diffusion, said opening having a removable seal and a diameter substantially smaller diameter than a length of the opening.

58. A device as claimed in Claim 45 wherein said cartridge is made of metal, deactivated metal, silco steel, fused silica, a nano materials or a micro machined component.

59. A device as claimed in Claim 54 wherein said fluid is a gas and said instrument is a capillary gas chromatograph or mass spectrometer or said fluid is a liquid and said analysis instrument is a liquid chromatographic or a capillary electrophoresis instrument.

60. A device as claimed in Claim 45 wherein said analysis instrument is a micro machined instrument.

61. A method of using a device for sampling or extracting a component of interest from a fluid, the device having an elongated micro cartridge containing a sorbent and having passages therein to create a pressure drop within said cartridge to permit access between said fluid and said sorbent, said method comprising exposing the micro cartridge and sorbent to a fluid, inserting said cartridge into an injection port of an analysis instrument and desorbing the component of interest from said cartridge and transporting an analyte of interest to said analysis instrument either by connecting said cartridge to a supply of carrier fluid when the cartridge has been inserted into the injection port and causing the carrier fluid to flow through said cartridge or by inserting the micro cartridge into said injection port to form a seal between said restriction and said cartridge, thereby forcing carrier fluid through said cartridge.

62. A method as claimed in Claim 61 including the steps of using the cartridge for sampling off site, inserting the cartridge into a sealed housing after completing said sampling, transporting the housing to the analysis instrument and removing the cartridge from the housing.

63. A method as claimed in Claim 62 wherein said analytical instrument is automated, said method including the steps of automatically removing a micro cartridge from said cartridge holder and placing said micro cartridge into the injection port of the analytical instrument and automatically carrying out desorption.

64. A method of using a device for passive sampling wherein the device has a housing into which said micro cartridge can be removably placed, said housing having an opening therein corresponding to a passage of said cartridge, said opening having a diameter substantially smaller than a length of said opening, said method including the steps of placing the cartridge in said housing, sealing said housing and sealing said opening with a plug, removing said plug before sampling, sampling by diffusion without removing said cartridge from said housing, replacing said plug in said opening when sampling has been completed, transporting the housing and the cartridge to an analysis instrument, removing the cartridge from the housing, placing the cartridge into an injection port of said analysis instrument and carrying out desorption.