(570e) Performance of An Integrated Array of Sensors for Micro Gas Chromatography Systems

Micro gas chromatography (GC) systems provide a portable version of a well established, sensitive analytical tool for investigating mixtures of volatile compounds. A complete micro GC system is composed of a pre-concentrator, a separations column and various detectors. The purpose of this research is to show the performance of an array of multiple, selective micro-sensors, all integrated into a single device. The integrated device contains several previously developed sensor types, namely polymer coated single walled carbon nano-tube (SWNT) as well as an aqueous oxime based sensors. Replacing the non-selective flame ionization detector (FID) in a commercial GC system with this device provides a basis of comparison for detection abilities. The individual micro-sensors within the device produce signals similar to that of the FID, differing slightly in magnitude and duration. By accounting for each sensor's unique selectivity, the composite of all signals from the integrated device can be used for real-time chemical analysis of the gas mixture.