UNS-TECH Conductance Detector

Universal NanoSensor Technologies, Inc. Toronto, Ontario Canada

Contents Components list Parts of the detector Installing software Connecting PTFE tubing Features of the software Using the detector Analyzing saved data Example measuring conductance of various NaCl solutions Tutorial on conductance measurements: simultaneously probing conductivity and dielectric constant via Gx and Gy, respectively Specifications 2 3 4 4 5 7 8 8

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Components list
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USB data key containing software detector cable with USB connectors on both ends peristaltic pump with tubing installed around rotor DC adapter for peristaltic pump 4 pieces of 8 long x 1/16 outer diameter PTFE tubing 4 pieces of ~1 long tygon tubing

Parts of the detector

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2 1 3

Fig. 1 Photograph of the conductance detector with pump

1. Detector 2. Metal tubing inlet/outlet of detector (inlet/outlet are interchangeable) 3. Detector USB port 4. Peristaltic ump 5. 1/16 outer diameter PTFE tubing

Caution: The metal tubing inlet/outlet of detector are easily bent. Do not apply strong forces to this tubing.

Installing software
(1) Insert USB data key and copy UNS-TECH folder from the USB drive to the desktop (2) Open UNS-TECH folder. Double click on UNS_Installer to run the installer. Python 2. 7. 1 window comes up. (3) In Python 2. 7. 1 window, press Next successively 3 times. When User Account Control window comes up, press Continue and press Finish at the end. (4) In User Account Control, press Allow. When numpy 1. 5. 1 window comes up, press Next successively 3 times, press Finish and then press Close. (5) In User Account Control, press Allow again. When matplot lib 1. 0. 1 window comes up, press Next successively 3 times and finally press Finish. (6) In User Account Control, press Allow again. When wxpython 2.8 ansi py27 window comes up, press Next and choose I accept the agreement (if you do) and press Next successively 3 times and finally press Finish at the end where you can close README win 32 from screen. (7) In User Account Control, press Allow again. When setuptools 0.6c11 window comes up, press Next successively 3 times and finally press Finish at the end. Installation of the program is completed at this point. (8) Connect the detector to your PC or Laptop using the cable that has USB connectors at both ends.

Connecting PTFE tubing

Tip: Having the detector upstream of the pump and pulling liquid through the detector using the pump rather than pushing the liquid is preferable. The preferable flow direction of the liquid is, therefore, from the detector to the pump.

(1) Place one of the ~1 tygon tubes onto either one of the detectors metal tubings (see Fig. 1). Insert one end of a PTFE tubing into this tygon tube. This metal tubing will serve as the inlet to the detector (the metal tubings are interchangeable).

Caution: The metal tubing inlet/outlet of detector are easily bent. Take extra care when handling this metal tubing. Note that the pressure in the tubing caused by the pump is low, so strong force is not required to hold the tygon/PTFE tubing in place.

(2) As in step (1), connect one end of PTFE tubing to the other metal tubing of the detector (which then serves as the detector outlet). (3) Turn on the pump and note the note the direction of pump rotation. The pump rotation pushes liquid from the pump inlet to the pump outlet, determining which tube is the pump inlet and which one is the pump outlet. (4) Insert the PTFE tubing that is connected to the detector outlet into the pump inlet tubing. (5) Insert another PTFE tubing into the pump outlet tubing. (6) The PTFE tubing connected to the detector inlet is inserted into the liquid to be sampled. The PTFE tubing connected to the pump outlet may be inserted either into a waste container (if the sample is to be discarded after a one-time conductance measurement) or into the original sample container (for continuous conductance measurements).

Features of the software refer to Fig. 6.2 below

2 1. Conductance Gx (mS) vs. time: Real time plot of X component or resistive/in-phase component of conductance being detected. 3 4 5 2. Conductance Gy (mS) vs. time: Real time plot of Y component or capacitance/out-of-phase component of conductance being detected. 3. Resume/Pause button: When Resume is pressed, measurements are performed and displayed. When Pause is pressed, measurement stops. 4. Controls for The minimum and maximum values of the horizontal (time) scale for both Gx and Gy graphs. The minimum and maximum values of the vertical scale for the Gx graph. The minimum and maximum values of the vertical scale for the Gy graph. 6 9 8 7

The above maxima/minima values are set automatically by the program if the respective Auto button(s) is (are) selected. You can also override the programs choice by setting the respective values manually.

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Fig. 2. A screen shot of a window displaying conductance detector software. 5. File select button This button allows you to select the file to which measurement data are saved. 6. Saving / not saving button When the button is pressed and switches from Not Saving to Saving, data recording to your selected file begins. When the button is pressed and switches from Saving to Not Saving, data recording stops.

7. Present values of time, Gx, Gy, |G| and Phase angle Note: The complex conductance G is expressed as G = Gx + iGy where i2 = -1. Gx and Gy are the in-phase and out-of-phase components of the conductance, respectively. The magnitude of G (|G|) and phase angles, , are defined as
G = G 2 +G 2 x y

and tan =

Gy . Gx

8. Sampling period This represents the time between each data measurement. For example if you choose sampling time of 2s, a data point is taken every 2 s. 9. Calibration button You can calibrate the detector using a 100 ppm NaCl/H2O (w/w) solution. Fill the detector with the solution and press this button. The residual Gx will be displayed and recorded in a file.

Using the detector

(1) Open the UNS-TECH folder and double click on UNS_tec_detector_v1_6.py (version number, assumed v1_6 here, may vary). The window shown in Fig-2 comes up to computer screen. (2) To choose your file for saving data, press Select file and choose your file location. Then press Save. Any data measured will be saved. If this button is set to Not Saving, any data measured will be displayed, but not saved. (3) To start data measurement, press Resume in the interface. This button after pressing Resume turns to Pause. If you want to stop data measurement, press Pause. (4) Once the data measurement starts and the Save button is displayed, measured data are plotted and automatically saved in your chosen file in real time. Tip: When you start pumping a solution into the detector, use a slow pump rate for the first few minutes to prevent air bubbles from entering and being trapped in the detector. Air bubbles in the detector cause irregular and abnormal measurements. However, air bubbles entering the connection at the detector outlet metal tubing is normal. Tip: Cleaning the pumps metal spindle and plastic bearings will help smooth pumping. Alternatively, you can spray a lubricant such as WD-40 on the pumps metal spindle and plastic bearings.

Analyzing saved data

Saved data are stored in a document/text file that can be open with Notepad. The data are saved in 4 columns. Starting from the left, the first column contains the date of a measurement, the second contains the time of the measurement, and the last 2 columns contain the Gx and Gy values of the measurement, respectively. The measurement data file can be transferred to a spreadsheet program such as Excel or Origin for analysis and plotting.

Example measuring the conductance of various NaCl solutions

Solutions with various concentrations can be prepared as follows: (1) 1 ppt stock solution 1 g NaCl in 1L H2O (2) 100 ppm solution Take 1 g of 1 ppt stock solution and add 9 g of H2O. (3) 50 ppm solution Take 5 g of 100 ppm solution and add 5 g of H2O. (4) 20 ppm solution Take 4 g of 50 ppm solution and add 6 g of H2O. (5) 10 ppm solution Take 5 g of 20 ppm solution and add 5 g of H2O. (6) 5 ppm solution Take 5 g of 10 ppm solution and add 5 g of H2O. (7) 2 ppm solution Take 4 g of 5 ppm solution and add 6 g of H2O. (8) 1 ppm solution Take 5 g of 2 ppm solution and add 5 g of H2O. Measurement results are shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. Fig. 3 shows Gx signal vs. time as various solutions sequentially flow through the detector, starting from 0 ppm (de-ionized water) to 100 ppm of NaCl. At 50 ppm and 100 ppm the noise gets slightly larger due to the high sensitivity of detector. It is normal that the noise apparently appears at high concentration (> 20mS). Fig. 4 shows plots of Gx signal vs concentration of NaCl from 1 ppm to 100 ppm (main panel) and from 1 ppm to 10 ppm (inset). Both plots show a high R (correlation coefficient value) that is particularly robust for very low concentration detection using UNS Techs conductance detector.

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100 ppm

X-Signal (mS)

25 20 15 10 5
DI water 1 ppm 2 ppm 10 ppm 5 ppm 20 ppm 50 ppm

0 -5

Fig. 3

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100

150

200

250

Time (s)

10

40 35 30

R = 0.99986

X-Singal (mS)

25 20 15
X-Singal (mS) R = 0.99945
5

R = 0.99945

10 5

0 0 20 40

10

Concentration (ppm )

60

80

100

Fig. 4

Concentration (ppm)

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Tutorial on conductance measurements: simultaneously probing conductivity and dielectric constant using Gx and Gy, respectively
In a conductance measurement, a sinusoidal drive voltage applied across a pair of electrodes induces a sinusoidal current to flow across the electrodes. A sample mixture flowing between the electrodes can be interrogated by analyzing this current response. For example, the drive voltage may cause a so-called external current, iext, to flow across the surfaces of the electrodes and through the sample mixture by inducing mobile charges in the sample mixture to flow; and/or, the drive voltage may cause socalled displacement current, idisp, to flow by charging/discharging the electrodes and polarizing/depolarizing the sample mixture as a function of time. In a linear approximation and assuming parallel electrodes, if a voltage difference, V, is applied between a pair of electrodes and no displacement current flows between the pair of electrodes, the external current that flows between the electrodes is proportional to V and is given by iext = V Gx where Gx = A /L = 1/R (2) (1)

is the conductivity of the sample mixture and depends on type and concentration of mobile charges species present, A is the cross section area of the electrodes through which the external current flows, L is the separation between the electrodes and R is the resistance of the sample mixture. Also in a linear approximation and assuming parallel electrodes, if a voltage difference, V, is applied between a pair of electrodes and no external current flows (i.e. the sample mixture is in a insulating liquid, e.g. hexane), then just displacement current flows between the electrodes and is given by idisp = V Gy where Gy = i A/L = iC (4) (3)

where i is an imaginary number such that i2 = -1, is the angular frequency of the voltage difference assumed to vary sinusoidally with time, is the dielectric constant, A is the cross sectional area over which the displacement current flows, L is the separation between the electrodes and C is the capacitance of the sample mixture.

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Since Gx is real, Eq. (1) implies that the voltage drive and external current response are in-phase. Since Gy is pure imaginary, Eq. (3) implies that the voltage drive and external current response are 90 degrees out-of-phase. The in-phase and the 90 degree out-of-phase current responses can be separately measured and given the magnitude of the voltage drive, Gx and Gy can be determined. Note that Gx is proportional to conductivity, and Gy is proportional to dielectric constant of the sample mixture. Both are also proportional to A/L, which therefore serves as geometrical amplification factor for small changes in either conductivity and/or dielectric constant. Small changes in either conductivity and/or dielectric constant are more easily measured with larger A/L. In UNS Techs conductance detector, A/L is very large, enabling simultaneous measurements of BOTH Gx and Gy; i.e. it simultaneously functions as a conductivity and dielectric constant detector. The latter is a unique feature of UNS Techs proprietary technology and provides a means for characterizing conductivity with great sensitivity and for characterizing even insulating sample mixtures via their dielectric constant.

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Detector specifications
Conductance (tested with NaCl solution) Range: 0 to 300 mS Resolution: 6 significant digits down to 1 nS Reliable Accuracy: +/- 0.5 % Salinity: Range: 1 ppb to 100ppm (NaCl equivalent) Resolution: 6 significant digits down to 1 nS Relative Accuracy: +/- 0.5% Temperature: tested at room temperature Cell Constant: 0.001 to 0.010 cm-1 Cell volume: 1 to 10 L Connection to computer: USB mini connection Power: power supply from USB (no external power supply required). Dimensions: Detector, 11cm(L), 7.5cm(W), 2.5(D), or 4-1/4(L), 3(W), 1(D)

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