The probable national benefits from research in flow analysis, and mechanisms for capturing these benefits

Expected national benefits associated with research outcomes in the area of FA are:

• Development of inexpensive FA procedures and portable analysers based on existing and new chemistries and flow modalities.  Efficient separation techniques for the online determination of trace and ultra-trace levels of analytes of biological, industrial, environmental and forensic importance will be implemented.  FA techniques will be particularly important in bedside and "in vivo" monitoring of hospital patients.  Low cost remote sensing based on the use of these analysers is expected to benefit substantially Australian industries operating in areas where suitably equipped analytical laboratories and trained technicians are not readily available (e.g., analysis and monitoring at outback mining sites).

• Improved performance and versatility of widely used analytical techniques (e.g. atomic spectrometry, chromatography, capillary electrophoresis) through their coupling with FA.  The latter will allow online sample clean up and introduction thus allowing direct analysis of ‘dirty samples’ by these hyphenated techniques.

ARNAS will not only facilitate research leading to the outcomes discussed above but will also create possibilities (e.g. industrial workshops, seminars, conferences) for establishing crucial links with industrial partners (e.g. leading Australian instrument manufacturers and users of analytical instrumentation).  These industrial interactions will support the development of internationally competitive Australian industry (in particular the manufacturing of analytical instrumentation), help maintain environmental sustainability through efficient environmental monitoring and contribute to safeguarding Australia through novel FA applications in forensic science. 

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