High resolution separation by pressure-driven liquid chromatography in meander extended nanochannels

Abstract: The rapidly developing interest in nanofluidics, which is used to examine liquids on an order that ranges from an attoliter to a femtoliter, correlates with the recent interest in decreased sample amounts, such as in the field of single-cell analysis. In this paper, we have succeeded in the normal phase separation of a 101 fL sample with a high number of theoretical plates (103 plates), and a fast separation (4s), using a pressure-driven flow in extended nanochannels. A meander separation channel 1μm wide was introduced and showed no band broadening at the turns, unlike microchannels (101–102 μm wide), which is an important aspect in order to lengthen the channel in a space-limited micro/nanofluidic chip. Our device enables the fast separation of an ultra-small volume of sample with a high number of theoretical plates, and will serve as a general platform for the separation of aL to fL volumes of samples. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]