Fast CEC-MS using poly(dimethylsiloxane) microinjector, short packed column, and low-sheath-flow interface.

A fast CEC-MS approach based on a microinjector and a short CEC column was developed. Poly(dimethylsiloxane) was used as the substrate for microinjector fabrication. A short capillary column (∼5 cm) packed with 5 μm octadecyl silica particles was inserted into the microinjector. The microinjector CEC device was interfaced to ESI-MS using a low-flow sheath liquid interface. The device delivers the advantages of sample introduction, pre-concentration, elution, and fast analysis as in chip-CEC yet avoids the difficulty of packing stationary material into the chip. The online pre-concentration and CEC-MS analysis capabilities of this device were demonstrated by analysis of a six-triazine mixture. A signal enhancement of 20-99-fold was achieved with a sample loading time of 180 s.