Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Sci Rep. 2012;2:510. doi: 10.1038/srep00510. Epub 2012 Jul 13.
Use of a single template-grown carbon nanotube as a separation column to separate attoliter volumes of binary mixtures of fluorescent dyes has been demonstrated. The cylindrical nanotube walls are used as stationary phase and the surface area is increased by growing smaller multi-walled carbon nanotubes within the larger nanotube column. Liquid-liquid extraction is performed to separate selectively soluble solutes in a solvent, and chromatographic separation is demonstrated using thin, long nanotubes coated inside with iron oxide nanoparticles. The setup is also used to determine the diffusion coefficient of a solute at the sub-micrometer scale. This study opens avenues for analytical chemistry in attoliter volumes of fluids for various applications and cellular analysis at the single cell level.
使用单个模板生长的碳纳米管作为分离柱，已成功分离纳升级别（atto liter）的两种荧光染料混合物。圆柱形纳米管壁用作固定相，通过在较大的纳米管柱内生长较小的多壁碳纳米管来增加表面积。通过液-液萃取来选择性地分离溶剂中的可溶性溶质，并使用涂有氧化铁纳米颗粒的薄而长的纳米管进行色谱分离。该装置还用于在亚微米尺度上测定溶质的扩散系数。这项研究为分析化学在纳升级别流体中的各种应用以及单细胞水平的细胞分析开辟了新途径。
