Low pressure drop micro preconcentrators with cobweb Tenax-TA film for analysis of human breath

This paper reports the design, simulation, and experimental evaluation of high performance low pressure drop (<;100Pa/cm) micropreconcentrator (μPC) chips (12mm×12mm×1mm) for handheld breath analyzers. The μPC´s high performance is attributed to the multiple inlets/outlets, novel high-aspect-ratio (360μm) parabolic reflectors, and cobweb configuration of adsorbent films, all of which promote the adsorption of chemical species. Flow pattern simulations were used to verify the underlying concept of the design. The performance of the new design was compared with solid phase microextraction (SPME), a commonly used sample preparation method in breath analysis.