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The use of ion-exchange sorbents for the preconcentration, separation and determination of metal ions is well established in the literature. Selection of an appropriate sorbent ensures both high efficiency in metal chelating while minimizing the mass of sorbent required for a particular analytical task. A high efficiency sorbent means that a smaller bed mass may be used thereby reducing the quantity of solvent required for elution yielding greater analytical sensitivity.

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New research into flow modulation methods in valve-based two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) has produced an effective alternative to traditional pulse modulation.1 Described as “pattern modulation”, this new method increases effluent to the secondary column with flow rates compatible with most chromatographs and spectrometers.

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The inherent sensitivity and selectivity of time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) can be augmented by soft electron ionization (EI) to provide ultratrace-level quantitation of organotins in complex environmental extracts. These organotin species are a focus of current concern as environmental contaminants, but analysis using conventional 70 eV ionization energies is made difficult by their propensity to undergo extensive fragmentation. The use of soft EI helps to solve this problem by producing simplified spectra with enhanced diagnostic ions.

The EPA has updated methods 8270 (8270E) and 625 (625.1) to both now permit the use of solid phase extraction (SPE) to analyze for semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in aqueous samples and TCLP leachates. As a result of new advancements in instrumental sensitivity, smaller sample sizes can now be utilized to obtain required method detection limits, reducing solvent and standard consumptions and overall sample preparation time. This application note describes a reliable, efficient, and cost-effective SPE method utilizing two stacked cartridges for the extraction of 100 mL water samples or less.

Cloud-point extraction (CPE) manipulates temperature and surfactant concentration to move aqueous solutes into a micelle phase for separation. Although CPE has been around for some time, it is still considered an emerging technique. Much of the development, and most applications, of CPE have dealt with extraction and preconcentration of inorganic solutes. More recently, attention has turned to the use of CPE in the isolation of organic solutes. This month, we review how CPE works and focus on applications for extracting organics.

There has been much written about the use of nitrogen as a carrier gas for capillary GC. Formerly, to say it wasn’t any good. Latterly to say that it’s pretty good and a better alternative to Helium than hydrogen from a practicality standpoint.

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In his final “Column Watch” article, Ron Majors looks into his crystal ball and discusses future needs in the area of HPLC/UHPLC column technology and related instrumentation. He looks at where current technology may be heading and makes a prediction that monolith-based columns may still have a rightful place in the HPLC/UHPLC laboratory .This article concludes his duration as a monthly columnist for LCGC.

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Professor David S. Hage was awarded the Outstanding Achievements in Separation Science Award at this year’s Eastern Analytical Symposium and Exposition (EAS). The award honours analytical chemists who have distinguished career achievements and advanced their fields of study with superior work by developing theory, technique or instrumentation.

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Professor Chris Enke won the Outstanding Achievements in the Fields of Analytical Chemistry Award at The Eastern Analytical Symposium and Exposition (EAS) this year. The award honours analytical chemists who have distinguished career achievements and advanced their fields of study with superior work by developing theory, technique or instrumentation.