An On-Site Heavy Metal Analyzer With Polymer Lab-on-a-Chips for Continuous Sampling and Monitoring

An on-site analyzer system for monitoring of heavy metals has been presented. This analyzer can automatically perform long-term continuous water sampling and on-site heavy metals measurement using an array of disposable polymer lab-on-a-chips (lab chip) and a continuous flow sensing method. The system consists of a plastic fluidic motherboard with a microchannels network, microvalves and pump, control circuits, a wireless communication module, a potentiostat, LabVIEW control, and seven disposable heavy metal lab chips. Square wave anodic stripping voltammetry was performed using a microfabricated planar bismuth electrode on the chip for detecting heavy metal (e.g., cadmium, Cd) concentrations. Sensing performance sensitivity was improved with by the continuous flow sensing method propelled by the analyzer. On-site measurement of the Cd concentration change of the soil pore and ground water samples from a lab-scale reactor was automatically performed to evaluate the performance of the analyzer with lab chips.