Parallel and series configurations for electron-capture and oxygen-sensitized electron-capture detection

Abstract

By use of two electron-capture detectors configured in either parallel or series arrangements where one of the detectors is sensitized with oxygen, the precision of measurement of oxygen-induced response enhancements is significantly improved. The relative standard deviation of repeated measurements is shown to be less than 3% for the parallel and 2% for the series arrangements. Either of these detection schemes will increase the power of oxygen-enhancement measurements for the identification of unknown compounds by gas chromatography. The parallel arrangement may be more generally applicable to broad-range chemical analysis than the series arrangement because with the series arrangement the response of the second detector to some compounds is complicated by the formation of electron-capturing products in the first detector.