Retention Mechanism Studies on Packed Column Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (pSFC) and Related Unified Chromatography Techniques

Abstract

Packed column SFC (pSFC) has experienced tremendous growth as an analytical technique over the past two decades. Different studies of the retention mechanisms are reviewed to provide a better understanding on the use of supercritical fluids in practical separation science for the general practitioners of pSFC. The importance of various chromatographic parameters is evaluated; different types of retention models are summarized and compared. The most important contribution that supercritical fluid technology has brought to separation science is the recognition that continuity exists in the different modes of chromatographic methods, and that there is a continuum from gases to liquids. The related unified chromatography techniques are also reviewed as an extension of pSFC technology.