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An Inert Flow Path GC: A Vital New Tool for Trace Environmental Analyses
Poster Presentation
Prepared by F. Feyerherm
Agilent Technologies, Inc., 2850 Centerville Road, Wilmington, DE, 19808
Contact Information: fred_feyerherm@agilent.com; 302-636-8162
ABSTRACT
Increasing sample complexity, lower limits of detection and the need to reliably analyze active analytes demand a highly inert flow path for modern gas phase analyses. As GC instrumentation improves in terms of resolving power and achievable limits of detection with techniques such as GC/MS, GC/MS/MS and GC-TOF MS, flow path inertness became a critical factor. Analytes must survive the tormented trip from injection through detection.
Flow path activity, or lack of inertness, has a dramatic impact on the analysis of active analytes. The analytes that tend to stick to exposed silanols or even decompose on heated chemically active sites in the flow path include: organic acids and bases, sulfur species, alcohols, amines, aldehydes, phenols, and pesticides. Accurate and reproducible measurements of these target analytes play important roles in environmental preservation, water quality monitoring and human health risk assessment.
Prior efforts to eliminate active sites throughout the sample’s flow path have focused primarily on column and liner deactivation strategies. These strategies have succeeded to the point where a laser focus on additional components in the flow path is the next logical step toward achieving a totally inert flow path. Inlet weldments, surface deactivated gold seals, micro-fluidic plates and ferrules used to make gas tight connections are all flow path components that come in contact with analytes of interest. Drinking water and contract laboratory pesticides application examples highlighting the impact a truly inert flow path has on environmental analytes are shown verses standard flow path results.
Poster Presentation
Prepared by F. Feyerherm
Agilent Technologies, Inc., 2850 Centerville Road, Wilmington, DE, 19808
Contact Information: fred_feyerherm@agilent.com; 302-636-8162
ABSTRACT
Increasing sample complexity, lower limits of detection and the need to reliably analyze active analytes demand a highly inert flow path for modern gas phase analyses. As GC instrumentation improves in terms of resolving power and achievable limits of detection with techniques such as GC/MS, GC/MS/MS and GC-TOF MS, flow path inertness became a critical factor. Analytes must survive the tormented trip from injection through detection.
Flow path activity, or lack of inertness, has a dramatic impact on the analysis of active analytes. The analytes that tend to stick to exposed silanols or even decompose on heated chemically active sites in the flow path include: organic acids and bases, sulfur species, alcohols, amines, aldehydes, phenols, and pesticides. Accurate and reproducible measurements of these target analytes play important roles in environmental preservation, water quality monitoring and human health risk assessment.
Prior efforts to eliminate active sites throughout the sample’s flow path have focused primarily on column and liner deactivation strategies. These strategies have succeeded to the point where a laser focus on additional components in the flow path is the next logical step toward achieving a totally inert flow path. Inlet weldments, surface deactivated gold seals, micro-fluidic plates and ferrules used to make gas tight connections are all flow path components that come in contact with analytes of interest. Drinking water and contract laboratory pesticides application examples highlighting the impact a truly inert flow path has on environmental analytes are shown verses standard flow path results.