April 2000

Concluding a two-part series, Ron Majors looks at the trends in the introduction of columns and column-related products at Pittcon 2000. In this second part, he describes gas chromatography and supercritical fluid chromatography columns, CE capillaries, thin-layer chromatography products, sample preparation products, and accessories for chromatography and sample preparation.

After exploiting the chemical factors in the separation process, chromatographers can adjust column conditions – flow rate, column size, and particle diameter – to further improve separations.

This month's column reviews some basic GC measurements and calculations that can be applied to questions of column quality. By understanding the analytical process, chromatographers can improve the quality of their results.

This report describes five small and very useful accessories developed 40 years ago to adapt gas chromatographs for special tasks.

This month's "Directions in Discovery" looks at column and mobile-phase selection as well as system components and modification. Making the right choices among these parameters will help analysts get the most out of their liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry systems.

The authors demonstrate a new detection method for various anions and cations separated by ion chromatography and point out the main advantages of this method.