Instrumental Analysis Open Access Centre, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University, Vileikos 8, LT44404 Kaunas, Lithuania.
Anal Methods. 2020 Nov 7;12(41):4977-4986. doi: 10.1039/d0ay01220c. Epub 2020 Oct 2.
Hazardous remote places exist in the world. Why should health or life be risked sending a scientist to the investigation site, as the remote analytical instrumentation exists? Different scientific fields require instruments that could be used on-site (in situ), therefore the purpose of this work was to design a fully automated chemical analysis system small enough to be mountable on a drone. Here we show an autonomous analytical system with sampling capability on a drone. The system is suited for the remote and autonomous analysis of volatile and non-volatile chemicals in the air. The designed system weighs less than 800 g. Data are transmitted wirelessly. Collected substances are separated automatically without the intervention of the operator using the method of capillary zone electrophoresis. The analytes are detected using a miniaturized contactless conductivity detector quantifying them down to less than 1 μM. In this work, we demonstrated sampling and separation of volatile amines (triethylamine and diethylamine) and organic acids (acetic and formic acids), non-volatile inorganic cations (K, Ca, Na), and protein (bovine serum albumin) in the aerosol state. It was shown that the capillary electrophoretic analysis can be performed on a hovering drone. We anticipate our work to be a starting point for more sophisticated, autonomous complex sample analysis. We believe that our designed instrument will enable the investigation of hazardous places in different research fields.
世界上存在着危险的偏远地区。既然有远程分析仪器，为什么还要冒着健康或生命危险派遣科学家到调查现场呢？不同的科学领域需要能够在现场（原位）使用的仪器，因此，这项工作的目的是设计一个足够小的全自动化学分析系统，以便安装在无人机上。在这里，我们展示了一个具有在无人机上采样能力的自主分析系统。该系统适用于远程和自主分析空气中的挥发性和非挥发性化学物质。设计的系统重量小于 800 克。数据通过无线传输。使用毛细管区带电泳法，无需操作人员干预即可自动分离收集的物质。使用微型非接触式电导检测器检测分析物，可将其定量至低于 1μM。在这项工作中，我们演示了在气溶胶状态下对挥发性胺（三乙胺和二乙胺）和有机酸（乙酸和甲酸）、非挥发性无机阳离子（K、Ca、Na）和蛋白质（牛血清白蛋白）的采样和分离。结果表明，在悬停的无人机上可以进行毛细管电泳分析。我们预计我们的工作将成为更复杂、自主的复杂样品分析的起点。我们相信，我们设计的仪器将能够用于不同研究领域的危险场所的调查。
