In situ analytical chemistry laboratory for the exobiology extant life surveyor

Drevinskas, Tomas, Cable, Morgan L., Stenner, Christian, Gardner, Alex S., Paton, Michael, Malaska, Michael J., Cruz, Sarah, Rieber, Richard, Etheredge, Rachel, Robinson, Matthew, Ono, Masahiro, Mora, Maria F., Bagshaw, Elizabeth A., Prior-Jones, Michael R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0980-4027, Ferreira Santos, Mauro S., Noell, Aaron C. and Willis, Peter A. 2026. In situ analytical chemistry laboratory for the exobiology extant life surveyor. ACS Measurement Science Au 6 (2) , pp. 421-429. 10.1021/acsmeasuresciau.5c00173

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Abstract

In this paper, we report a fully automated, end-to-end (sample-in/data-out) capillary electrophoresis system. The system’s dimensions conform to the cylindrical shape and power/data requirements of the science payload compartment of the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS), a snake-like robot capable of autonomously navigating challenging terrain on Earth or other worlds. The capillary electrophoresis system is equipped with three contactless conductivity detectors: two dedicated to analyte detection and one for characterizing bulk sample flow. The system enables simultaneous detection of cations and anions, including K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl–, and SO42–, at submicromolar concentrations. For the first time, we deployed and demonstrated autonomous capillary electrophoresis operation on a glacier with the system tested in three environments: on-ice, partially submerged in an active stream, and fully submerged in a glacial pond.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Earth and Environmental Sciences
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Start Date: 2026-03-12
Publisher:	American Chemical Society
ISSN:	2694-250X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	26 March 2026
Date of Acceptance:	4 February 2026
Last Modified:	02 Aug 2026 11:37
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/186034

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