A novel microchip based on indium tin oxide coated glass for contactless conductivity detection

► The proposed analytical system suffers less to environmental factors. ► Thick cover layer can be used for microchip without obvious loss of sensitivity. ► This novel microchip-CCD system is simple to fabricate and convenient to use. A microfluidic chip manufactured from glass substrate and indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass use for contactless conductivity detection was developed. The detecting electrodes were fabricated by screen-printing and chemical etching methods using an ITO-coated glass wafer. Then, the glass substrate containing separation channels was bonded with the bare side of the processed ITO-coated glass, thus producing an electrophoresis chip integrated with contactless conductivity detector. The prepared microchip displayed considerable stability and reproducibility. Sensitive response was obtained at optimal conditions (including the gap between electrodes, excitation frequency, and excitation voltage). The feasibility of this microfluidic device was examined by detection of inorganic ions, and further demonstrated by the quantification of aminopyrine and caffeine in a compound pharmaceutical. The two ingredients can be completely separated within 1min. The detection limits were 8μgmL−1 and 3μgmL−1, respectively; with the correlation coefficient of 0.996–0.998 in the linear range from 10μgmL−1 to 800μgmL−1. The results have showed that the present method is sensitive, reliable and fast.