Best of the Week: Love in all the Wrong Mobile Phases, 2025 New Product Reviews, Evaluating Dissolved Organic Matter

This week, LCGC International published a variety of articles on trending topics in separation science. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the most popular articles that were published this week in no particular order.

We’d love to hear from you! Is there a topic you’d like to see covered in LCGC? Share your ideas with us—we value your feedback and are committed to exploring the subjects that matter most to our readers. Email chroncich@mjhlifesciences.com with your thoughts. Happy reading!

LCGC International 2025 New Product Review – Call for Submissions

You're invited to publicize your 2024–2025 new product introductions in LCGC International. For our 2025 review, you may submit any product launched between May 2024 and March 2025. We have four forms, covering different types of products, and you participate in as many categories as you wish. Links to the surveys appear in this entry.

The LCGC Blog: Looking for Love in all the Wrong Mobile Phases

Jonathan G. Shackman

When adding in column geometry as a variable to liquid chromatography (LC) column selection, the sheer number of possible column part numbers should far overshadow the selection of mobile phases (MPs). In this edition of The LCGC Blog, Jonathan Shackman discusses what factors to consider when choosing a mobile phase for liquid chromatography (LC) procedures.

Reaching for the Stars with Mass Spectrometry

Kate Jones

LCGC International spoke to Amanda Patrick, associate professor at Mississippi State University about her research exploring mass spectrometry (MS) applications in ionic liquid analysis. Used as lubricants, solvents, catalysts, and spacecraft propellants, ionic liquids are made of bulky organic cations and inorganic or organic anions. Named an “Emerging Investigator” by the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, Patrick aims to further our understanding and learn the fundamental properties of these salts.

Using Chromatography to Explore Fluorescent Bioactive Compounds in the Coelomic Fluid of Earthworms

John Chasse

Earthworms (Perionyx excavates) have been used in the traditional medicine of China for at least 2300 years. Extracts from their tissues have showed anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties, and protease isolated from them acts as a treatment for thrombosis and fibrosis. Furthermore, earthworms have been used as a skin model in the study of spidroin, a protein that makes up spider silk and promotes wound healing. A joint study between the Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (Tamil Nadu, India) and the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (Kerala, India) was designed to identify fluorescent bioactive compounds in the coelomic fluid (CF) of earthworms.

Evaluating Dissolved Organic Matter with GPC and Spectroscopy

John Chasse

In a joint study by the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture (China) and the China Construction Fifth Engineering Division (Changsha, China), water treatment facility sludge was employed as filler in a filter system to evaluate its ability to remove dissolved organic matter (DOM) from road runoff. The researchers used analytical techniques such as gel permeation chromatography (GPC), ultraviolet-visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy, and excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy in their evaluation. This analysis was performed to determine the primary removal components of DOM.