New fully portable instrument for the versatile determination of cations and anions by capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection

A new portable capillary electrophoresis instrument with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection was developed and optimized for the sensitive field measurements of ionic compounds in environmental samples. It is powered by batteries and the high voltage modules are capable of delivering up to 15 kV at either polarity for more than one working day. Inorganic cations and anions, including ions of heavy metals and arsenate, could be determined with detection limits in the range from about 0.2 to 1 mu M. The instrument was field tested in a remote region of Tasmania and nitrite and ammonium could be determined on-site at concentrations as low as 10 ppb in presence of other common inorganic ions at concentrations which were 2 to 3 orders of magnitude higher.