We present for the first time an electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) microfluidic system coupled to a surface-assisted laser desorption–ionization (SALDI) silicon nanowire-based interface for mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of small biomolecules. Here, the transfer of analytes has been achieved on specific locations on the SALDI interface followed by their subsequent mass spectrometry analysis without the use of an organic matrix. To achieve this purpose, a device comprising a digital microfluidic system and a patterned superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic silicon nanowire interface was developed. The digital microfluidic system serves for the displacement of the droplets containing analytes, via an electrowetting actuation, inside the superhydrophilic patterns. The nanostructured silicon interface acts as an inorganic target for matrix-free laser desorption–ionization mass spectrometry analysis of the dried analytes. The proposed device can be easily used to realize several basic operations of a Lab-on- Chip such as analyte displacement and rinsing prior to MS analysis. We have demonstrated that the analysis of low molecular weight compounds (700 m/z) can be achieved with a very high sensitivity (down to 10 fmol μL^-1).

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Technology
Research Group:	Environmental Biotechnology
Research Field:	Environmental Biotechnology Diagnostics (incl. Biosensors)
Objective Division:	Manufacturing
Objective Group:	Instrumentation
Objective Field:	Medical Instruments
UTAS Author:	Lapierre, F (Dr Florian Lapierre)
ID Code:	99996
Year Published:	2011
Web of Science® Times Cited:	55
Deposited By:	Austn Centre for Research in Separation Science
Deposited On:	2015-04-22
Last Modified:	2017-11-03
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