Technology Spotlight: Life in the Fast Lane—Advances in High Speed Gas Chromatography

Austin Dobrecevich from Robert Synovec’s group at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA, discusses the benefits of high-speed gas chromatography (HSGC) using a novel dynamic pressure gradient injection (DPGI) system. The results demonstrated that DPGI enables highly reproducible peak widths and retention times, even in sub-second separation regimes. This DPGI–HSGC system could produce 300 chromatograms in 10 min—equivalent to one injection every 2 s—while maintaining performance and resolution. The H_min of 77 µm obtained equates to only a 0.075 µL dead volume perturbation beyond the ideal H_min. This represents a significant advancement in the throughput and practicality of HSGC for analytical applications, according to Dobrecevich.

Austin Dobrecevich is a research assistant at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA, where he develops novel instrumentation platforms to advance GC. His research focuses on investigating HSGC to design and develop gas analyzers for the analysis of volatile and semi-volatile compounds with high throughput, informed by fundamental GC theory.

Alasdair Matheson is currently the executive editor for LCGC International and was previously editor-in-chief of LCGC Europe. He has a master’s degree in analytical chemistry from Strathclyde University (Scotland), specializing in chromatography, and a postgraduate diploma in marine pollution chemistry from Liverpool University.