Studies on eluents suitable for use with simultaneous conductivity and direct UV detection is non-suppressed ion chromatography

Abstract

Simultaneous conductivity and direct UV detection is frequently employed in ion chromatography for the analysis of complex matrices or when samples contain disparate levels of anions. A number of eluents suitable for use with both detection modes were evaluated in terms of their general utility as anion screening eluents for non-suppressed ion chromatography. Octanesulphonate-borate was perhaps the most versatile of the eluents investigated as it had good separation selectivity, gave no system peaks and chloride response could be eliminated when using direct UV detection. Both borate-gluconate and carbonate-hydrogencarbonate also proved to be very useful screening eluents for use with direct UV and non-suppressed and suppressed conductivity detection respectively. Hydroxyde and tartrate-borate were of less utility as general purpose eluents, however both have unique characteristics which make them ideal for selected applications.