Tessa Van Volkenburg; Jennifer Skerritt Benzing; Kathleen L. Craft; Korine Ohiri; Ashley Kilhefner; Kristen Irons; Christopher Bradburne · 2022 · Astrobiology
Paper
Increasing interest in the detection of biogenic signatures, such as amino acids, on icy moons and bodies within our solar system has led to the development of compact in situ instruments. Given the expected dilute biosignatures and high salinities of these extreme environments, purification of icy samples before analysis enables increased detection sensitivity. Herein, we outline a novel compact cation exchange method to desalinate proteinogenic amino acids in solution, independent of the type and concentration of salts in the sample. Using a modular microfluidic device, initial experiments explored operational limits of binding capacity with phenylalanine and three model cations, Na +, Mg 2+, and Ca 2+. Phenylalanine recovery (94–17%) with reduced conductivity (30–200 times) was seen at high salt-to-amino-acid ratios between 25:1 and 500:1. Later experiments tested competition between mixtures of 17 amino acids and other chemistries present in a terrestrial ocean sample. Recoveries ranged from 11% to 85% depending on side chain chemistry and cation competition, with concentration shown for select high affinity amino acids. This work outlines a nondestructive amino acid purification device capable of coupling to multiple downstream analytical techniques for improved characterization of icy samples at remote ocean worlds.
Analysis
This paper presents a novel microfluidic cation exchange method for desalting and purifying amino acids from samples relevant to ocean worlds, enhancing detection sensitivity.
Discovery
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