Chemiluminescence Detector with a Serpentine Flow Cell

We present a new chemiluminescence detector, with solution channels that have been machined into a Teflon disk and sealed with a sapphire window. The configuration of the flow cell can be conveniently modified by replacing the Teflon disk. A comparison of some existing and novel designs, using the chemiluminescence reaction of morphine with acidic potassium permanganate and the bioluminescence reaction of ATP with the commercially available "BacTiter-Glo" reagent, has revealed that a serpentine channel allows greater quantities of light to be captured than a spiral channel, due to more efficient mixing of the analyte and reagent solutions within the cell.