Appropriate technology in analytical separations

1973年，弗里茨·舒马赫（Fritz Schumacher）在《小即是美：人很重要的经济学》（Small is Beautiful: economics as if people matter）中创造了“适当技术”一词。适当的技术描述了一种以对地球有限资源影响最小的方式来满足人类需求的方法。因此，这个术语经常与可持续发展和绿色化学等术语联系在一起。然而，这个术语同样适用于分析实验室，我们也面临有限的资本预算和有限的人员配备。我的研究旨在扩展分离技术的能力，如高效液相色谱（HPLC）、离子色谱（IC）和毛细管电泳（CE），以更广泛的应用范围，同时保持灵活性，最大限度地降低成本和复杂性。我的团队采取的方法是发展对方法论的基本物理化学理解。然后，我们利用这种理解来加强甚至简化分析方法。我们最近工作的例子是：对电泳迁移率的基本理解；一类基于负载磷脂双分子层的自组装涂层，用于防止CE中蛋白质的吸附；基于廉价二极管激光器和极其廉价的发光二极管的灵敏荧光探测器；比传统方法快20倍的集成电路方法；高效低压集成电路方法。许多这样的努力将继续下去。本文提出的新领域包括：电导率谱探针；电开关离子交换；以及基于微生物电迁移的分析方法。

The term "Appropriate Technology" was coined in 1973 by Fritz Schumacher in "Small is Beautiful: economics as if people matter".  Appropriate Technology describes a way of providing for human needs with the least impact on the Earth's finite resources.  Thus the term is often tied to terms such as sustainable development and Green chemistry.  However, the term applies equally well to the analytical laboratory where we too face finite capital budgets and limited staffing.  My research seeks to extend the capabilities of separation techniques such as high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ion chromatography (IC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) to a broader range of applications while maintaining flexibility and minimizing expense and complexity.    The approach my group takes is to develop a fundamental physico-chemical understanding of the methodology.  We then use that understanding to enhance and even simplify the analytical methods.  Examples of our recent work are the development of: a fundamental understanding of electrophoretic mobility; a class of self-assembled coatings based on supported phospholipid bilayers for preventing protein adsorption in CE; sensitive fluorescence detectors based on inexpensive diode lasers and dirt-cheap light emitting diodes; IC methods that are 20-times faster than conventional methods; and high efficiency low pressure IC methodologies.  Many of these efforts will continue.  New areas introduced in this proposal include: conductivity spectrum probe; electrically switched ion exchange; and analytical methodologies based on electromigration of microbes.