Principles of Chromatography
The term 'chromatography' is applied to separation techniques based on the partitioning of analytes between two phases in a dynamic system.
In gas chromatography, a gas is the mobile phase and a solid or liquid is the stationary phase. All analytes spend some time in the gaseous phase and in the stationary phase.
Retention time is the time it takes for the analyte to elute from the column. The retention time is proportional to the amount of time the analyte spends in the stationary phase.
There are two types of columns that are used:
- Packed columns- large diameter (3.2-6.3 mm) stainless steel or glass tubes filled with a solid stationary phase. The lengths of the columns are about 1 to 5 meters.
- Capillary columns- small diameter (0.1-0.53 mm) glass tubes normally filled with a liquid stationary phase. The lengths of the columns are 15 to 100 meters.
Capillary columns are more difficult to use, are easily damaged by oxygen, and have lower precision than packed columns, however, they are more efficient and more compounds can be identified and quantified.
Example CFC Chromatograms
Chromatogram of 5.3cc of Oregon marine air. Peaks at 2.20, 3.97, and 6.65 minutes are CFC-12, CFC-11, and CFC-113 respectively
Chromatogram of CFCs stripped from 30cc of young water. The peaks at 1.60, 2.14, 3.87, 5.78, 6.53, and 9.21 minutes are, N20, CFC-12, CFC-11, methyl chloroform, CFC 113, and CCl4 respectively.
