Gas Chromatography (GC)

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Gases Q & A

A number of frequently asked questions about gases and their delivery to a gas chromatography instrument are addressed.

Q&A: Gases

In this month's instament, John Hinshaw addresses a number of frequently asked questions about gases and their delivery to a gas chromatography instrument.

SPME decouples sampling from matrix effects that would distort the apparent sample composition or disturb the chromatographic separation. It is also easy to use and reduces solvent consumption.

Following the publication of “Analysis of the State of the Art: GC Instrumentation†in the August 2012 issue of LCGC, a reader notes further factors to consider, including poor user training, unanswered questions in fast GC, and the need for further instrument improvements, particularly better deactivation of the internal surfaces to minimize loss of trace samples.

In honor of LCGC's celebration of 30 years covering the latest developments in separation science, we asked a panel of experts (listed in the sidebar) to assess the current state of the art of gas chromatography (GC) instrumentation and to try to predict how the technology will develop in the future.

In this instalment John V. Hinshaw reviews gas chromatography instruments and accessories that were newly presented at Pittcon 2012 or were introduced to the marketplace in the preceding year.

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Hyphenated approaches to analysis have received much attention over the last three decades to the extent that techniques such as GC?MS, GC?FTIR and LC?MS have ? in the relevant fields ? become indispensable parts of the analyst?s arsenal. This concept has been extended to include multi-hyphenated techniques, where the chromatography is preceded by analyte extraction from a sample matrix. In the field of GC?MS, examples include thermal, sorptive or headspace extraction, with subsequent preconcentration, for instance, by thermal desorption (TD).