Comparison of commercially available atomic emission and chemiluminescence detectors for sulfur-selective gas chromatographic detection

Abstract

The determination of sulfur with sulfur chemiluminescence detection (SCD) and microwave-induced plasma atomic emission spectroscopic detection (AED) was compared for ten aliphatic and aromatic sulfur-containing organic compounds. Each detector was shown to be a sensitive and specific detector for sulfur present in different molecular forms. the linear dynamic range (LDR) for AED was independent of sulfur species at 10 5, whereas the LDR for the SCD was generally 10 4. The detection limit for both detectors was ca. 6–10 pg injected sulfur. Under conditions which optimized the SCD response for sulfur, the LDR for hydrocarbons using flame ionization detection (FID) (required for SCD operation) was similar to the 193-nm carbon emission line for the AED, but the sensitivities and reproducibilites with FID-SCD were poorer. The results of this study demonstrate that the selection of AED or SCD for sulfur detection is dependent on cost and whether the need is for a sulfur-only detector or a multi-element detector.