Chapter 1 Chromatography-Element Selective Detection: Interfacing of Gas Chromatography with Microwave-Induced Plasma Emission Detection (Gc-Mip)

Abstract

Publisher Summary Element selective chromatographic detection aims to obtain qualitative and quantitative analysis of eluates frequently in interfering background matrices based upon their elemental constitution. Simultaneous multielement detection may also permit the determination of the empirical formulae of eluates. Element selective gas chromatographic detectors in common use include the alkali flame ionization detector (AFID), often known as the nitrogen/phosphorus detector (NPD), selective for these elements; the flame photometric detector (FPD), selective for sulfur and phosphorus, and the Hall electrolytic conductivity detector, which is selective for halogen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Atomic emission spectral detection of metallic elements in gas chromatography (GC) shows something of an irony; while detection limits and selectivities are usually better than for non-metals, because of greater emission intensities and absence of background interferences in the spectral region monitored, GC applications for metallic compounds in general are less common than for non-metals. The development of many alternative plasma sources has led to a resurgence of analytical atomic emission spectroscopy in recent years. The major plasma emission sources used for gas chromatographic detection have been the microwave-induced helium plasma, under atmospheric or reduced pressure and the direct current plasma (DCP). The inductively coupled argon plasma (ICP) has been used much less for GC than as a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) detector.