Integration of a flow-type chemiluminescence detector on a glass electrophoresis chip

A glass electrophoresis microchip integrated a flow-type chemiluminescence (CL) detection cell has been developed and evaluated. The chip pattern is a double-T-type electrophoretic sample injection and separation combining with a Y-type chemiluminecent detector. The double-T geometry allows for high-efficiency sample injection and geometric definition of sample plug size. The branch of Y was used as CL reagent channel, and the CL reagent was delivered by a lab-made micropump. Bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)]oxalate-H₂O₂ CL system was employed to detect dansyl amino acids. On this microchip, dansyl-phenylalanine and -sarcosine were successfully separated by electrophoresis and detected within 250 s. The detection limits (S/N=3) of dansyl-phenylalanine and -sarcosine could reach to 2.8 and 3.2 μM, respectively, due to the vigorous dilution of sample with CL reagent and timely removal of the waste solution from reaction area.