Portable light weight open tubular ion chromatograph for field determination of environmental anions.

We report a battery powered non-suppressed open tubular ion chromatograph (NSOTIC) that weighs less than 3 kg with on-board rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that provide power for 18 h of operation. It is contained in an aluminum case measuring 30 × 25 × 16 cm. Separation relies on open tubular (OT) chromatographic columns which eliminate the need for high pressure pumps, drastically reducing weight and complexity. Eluent consumption is less than 100 µL per separation. Eluent is supplied from a pressurized vessel via a voltage-controlled electronic pressure controller. Flow rates are typically <200 nL/min which allows a single 16-20 g gas cartridge to perform hundreds of separations. Two anions, chloride and nitrate, in Atacama soil samples were field determined by running the portable NSOTIC. More samples were lab analyzed by commercial IC and IC/MS-MS (only perchlorate due to its low concentration level). To demonstrate the feasibility of running NSOTIC on sample analysis, samples were tested by both non-portable and portable NSOTIC.