Development and performance research of a novel thermal biosensor

A novel thermal biosensor with multifunction have been developed according to calorimetric method. The flow injection analysis system consist of peristaltic pump, thermostat, sample injection valve, reaction and reference chambers, thermoelectric piles, data acquisition module and personal computer. Thermoelectric piles are placed between reaction and reference chambers. Data acquisition module for weak signal has 24 bits resolution and 64 times gain, and PC can automatically display, processing and storage of data based on virtual instrument technology. The key parameters such as reaction chamber, flux, reaction temperature and sample can be optimized. The performance is as follows: The thermostat has precision of ±0.1; The use of identical reference chamber eliminate unspecific heat; The thermoelectric piles has high sensitivity of 4 mV/K; The response is liner and repeatable. The system can be applied for multi-sample and compound detection with inhibition in fields of on-line or on-site monitoring.