A microfabricated silicon chip with a separation material, such as in situ prepared
porous polymer monoliths in its microchannels is disclosed. The polymer monoliths
are liquid-permeable and serve as microcolumns for liquid chromatography, which
are prepared by in situ radical polymerization of a mixture containing vinyl monomers
and solvents (porogen) in the microchannels. A method and system are disclosed
to generate one or more electrospray plumes from one or more nozzles that provide
an ion intensity as measured by a mass spectrometer that is approximately proportional
to the number of electrospray plumes formed for analyses contained within the fluid.
A plurality of electrospray devices can be used in the form of an array of miniaturized
separate electrospray devices for the purpose of generating multiple electrospray
plumes from multiple nozzles for the same fluid for analysis. This invention dramatically
increases the sensitivity of microchip electrospray devices compared to prior disclosed
systems and methods. The silicon chip having the packed microchannels disclosed
herein finds application in coupling with mass spectrometry for sample analysis.
Also disclosed is a separation block having multiple through-substrate channels
filled with a separation material such as polymer monolith which can be stacked
in multiple blocks for sequential two-dimensional chromatographic separation and
integrated with the electrospray device.