Fabrication of a silica-coated micro gas chromatography column for VOC separation

Abstract : Portability and low energy consumption are of a great importance for on-site real time monitoring of indoor air quality. Therefore, the aim of this work is to miniaturize one of the bulkiest elements consuming the highest energy in analytical devices, i.e. a gas chromatography microcolumn. In this study, we report the design and fabrication on silicon wafers of three gas chromatography microcolumns of 1, 2 and 3-m long with integrated microheaters and temperature sensors. In a first stage, the microcolumn and the temperature control system have been developed separately to enable a faster optimization. The heating system has been tested and it allowed the device to reach 200 °C in 55 s with a power consumption of 13.8 W. A specific packaging has been designed to provide reliable fluidic connections to the MEMS-based columns. In a second stage, the latter will be integrated in a laboratory prototype to test their suitability for VOC separation.