We describe an open tubular ion chromatograph (OTIC) that uses anion exchange latex coated 5 μm radius silica and 9.8 μm radius poly(methyl methacrylate) tubes and automated time/pressure based hydrodynamic injection for pL-nL scale injections. It is routinely possible to generate 50,000 plates or more (up to 150,000 plates/m, columns between 0.3 and 0.8 m have been used), and as such, fast separations are possible, comparable to or in some cases better than the current practice of IC. With an optimized admittance detector, nonsuppressed detection permits LODs of submicromolar to double digit micromolar for a variety of analytes. However, large volume injections are possible and can significantly improve on this. A variety of eluents, the use of organic modifiers, and variations of eluent pH can be used to tailor a given separation. The approach is discussed in the context of extraterrestrial exploration, especially Mars, where the existence of large amounts of perchlorate in the soil needs to be confirmed. These columns can survive drying and freezing, and small footprint, low power consumption, and simplicity make OTIC a good candidate for such a mission.

Soap bubbles provide a fascinating tool that is little used analytically. With a very low liquid volume to surface area ratio, a soap bubble can potentially provide a very useful interface for preconcentration where mass transfer to an interfacial surface is important. Here we use an automated system to create bubbles of uniform size and film thickness. We utilize purified Triton-X 100, a nonionic surfactant, to make soap bubbles. We use such bubbles as a gas-sampling interface. Incorporating hydrogen peroxide into the bubble provides a system where electrical conductance increases as the bubble is exposed to low concentrations of sulfur dioxide gas. We theoretically derive the conductance of a hollow conducting spherical thin film with spherical cap electrodes. We measure the film thickness by incorporating a dye in the bubble making solution and laser transmission photometry and find that it agrees well with the geometrically computed thickness. With the conductance of the bubble-making soap solution being measured by conventional methods, we show that the measured values of the bubble conductance with known bubble and electrode dimensions closely correspond to the theoretically computed value. Finally, we demonstrate that sub-ppm levels of SO(2) can readily be detected by the conductivity change of a hydrogen peroxide-doped soap bubble, measured in situ, when the gas flows around the bubble.

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A rapid method for determination of hydrogen peroxide based on a non‐enzymatic amperometric sensor with an online dialysis unit was developed for analysis of sample with complicated matrices. A porous gold modified gold screen‐printed electrode was prepared by a simple method using 9 V‐battery electrodeposition. Based on data from amperometry, a linear dynamic range can be obtained in the range of 10 to 1000 μmol L−1, with a limit of detection of 0.37 μmol L−1. The proposed system was successfully applied to determine H2O2 in various milk samples with rapid analysis, high electrode stability, and excellent repeatability (1.95 % RSD with 100 replications).

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Soap films can not only be made with sub-μm thickness, they can have intrinsic permeabilities comparable to many commercial membranes, permitting very high transmembrane flux. Soap films readily incorporate a wide range of modifiers to allow highly tailored selectivity: We show that incorporating α-cyclodextrin in an 890 nm thick Triton-X-100 film allows, in a single stage, a high degree of chirally selective transport (1.6:1) of α(+)-pinene over α(-)-pinene.

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