GIFT: A "Generic Integrated Forensic Toolbox" using a novel micro capillary electrophoresis device for rapid separation and detection of organophosphate nerve agents

Generic Integrated Forensic Toolbox (GIFT) is an FP7 funded project that focuses on developing a forensic toolbox for investigating chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents. In this consortium, Tyndall is developing miniaturised chemical analysis devices for chemical agent detection. Organophosphate (OP) compounds are being tested to validate the devices fabricated in the project. A novel capillary electrophoresis (CE) microchip was designed and in-house fabricated to separate complex aqueous based compounds, similar to commercially available CE systems, but more compact and functional. Un-doped silicon wafer and ultra-thin borofloat glass (Pyrex) wafers have been used to fabricate the device. Double-L injection feature, micro pillars column, bypass separation channel and hybrid referenced electrodes for Capacitively-Coupled Contactless Conductivity Detection (C4D) were designed to achieve high SNR (signal to noise ratio), easy separation, durable and reusable devices for CE use. In this study, methyl paraoxon, ethyl paraoxon, methyl parathion, fenitrothion and ethyl parathion separated by CE and Microchip Capillary Electrophoresis (MCE) will be investigated.