Trends and Developments in GC

LCGC International spoke with Jim Gearing, Associate Vice President of Marketing, Agilent Gas Phase Separations Division; Massimo Santoro, Group Business Development Director at Markes International; Ed Connor, GC Product Manager at Peak Scientific; and Bruce Richter, Vice President of Research & Development at Restek Corporation.

Q. What trends do you see emerging in GC or GC–MS?

Jim Gearing: Over the years there have been helium shortages that have caused concern for gas chromatography (GC) and GC–mass spectrometry (MS) testing. Many laboratories look to both conserve their use of helium and move to an alternate carrier gas to save money and avoid future problems. For helium conservation, the trend is to switch to a different gas when the system is not in use. For example, GC and GC–MS systems can be programmed to switch to either H₂ or N₂ during a sleep mode when not in use. The same systems can be used to switch carrier gases while in operation. Nitrogen is a good carrier gas choice for GC systems when the chromatographic separation allows.

For GC–MS and when critical separations are required, hydrogen is the preferred alternate carrier gas choice. Laboratories are increasingly focused on safe operation with hydrogen. An integrated hydrogen sensor allows the GC system to catch any leaks before they become a problem, shut the system down, and let the operator know what has happened and how to fix it.

Massimo Santoro: GC and GC–MS continue to be the techniques of choice when it comes to very complex samples, or when the user wants reliable, trustworthy data. Green chemistry, especially when it comes to sample preparation prior to GC and GC–MS analysis, faster analysis times, and reduced costs for each sample, is the key trend we observe most frequently speaking to customers around the world.

Ed Connor: We obviously pay close attention to trends of carrier gas usage, and in particular use of alternatives to helium (H₂/N₂). We have seen a continued growth of hydrogen carrier gas adoption thanks to the ongoing pressure faced by laboratories in either finding supply of helium, or in combatting spiralling costs of helium cylinders. These supply-cost pressures, along with significant advances in technologies and guidance by industry leaders to facilitate use of hydrogen and nitrogen carrier gas, have driven adoption, which looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.

Bruce Richter: The evolution and improvement of instrumentation is changing the way that many scientists are doing their work. Improved resolution, sensitivity, and scan speeds of mass spectrometers are having interesting impacts in many laboratories. For example, increased scan speeds can shorten analysis times. Improved resolution and sensitivity of the MS can mean less sample preparation is needed for some sample types. Multiple methods can be combined into single analyses to improve laboratory productivity. For example, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been traditionally analyzed using separate conditions and instrument configurations. Now, with the proper instrumentation and conditions, they can be analyzed using the same instrument and same method conditions, thus saving time and increasing productivity. Triple-quadrupole MS systems are being used now in areas where high‑resolution sector MS systems dominated in the past.

In your opinion what is the future of GC or GC–MS?

JG: The future of GC and GC–MS falls into a couple of categories:

Instrument Intelligence: As systems become more intelligent, artificial intelligence (AI) technology will play an increasing role. GC and GC–MS systems self-diagnose and help troubleshoot problems. Expert operators can connect directly to the GC from anywhere the network will allow. This permits remote operation or troubleshooting, meaning experts can work on the GC system and not be in proximity to the instrument.

Sustainability: Facility space remains at a premium. Laboratories continue to look for ways to run more samples in smaller spaces. This is done by either combining methods and applications into one system or having more dedicated but smaller systems. Systems that reduce the amount of power required to run the laboratory will increase in importance. This not only saves money for a laboratory but will also help them meet sustainability goals. Helium is a non-renewable resource and costs will continue to increase as supplies become limited. Moving to alternative carrier gases, especially hydrogen, saves money for the laboratory and allows for faster run times.

Complete-System Workflow Solutions: GC and GC–MS systems are the nucleus of your gas-phase workflows. More emphasis is being placed on complete applications, from sample preparation to final report.

EC: Despite GC and GC–MS now being well into middle-age, the use of these techniques is intrinsically tied to so many aspects of testing of commodities, air quality, medicines, and health that they are going to be around for quite a while longer. As with most other areas of our lives involving technology, the development of new instruments is likely to centre around miniaturization of hardware, and for operation and analysis, an increased reliance on the instrument of things (IoT) and AI to reduce analysis time and improve the robustness of data.

MS: GC and GC–MS will remain the gold‑standard reference techniques for anyone who’s dealing with volatile and semi-volatile organic species. While they will be pushed to their limits, challenged with new contaminants at increasingly challenging low detection limits, faster analysis time, and reduced cost, I believe gas chromatography will always maintain its status in any modern analytical laboratory. If I were to predict, developments are more likely to happen on the software side of GC and GC–MS, and I believe they are necessary given the huge amount of data we already produce from every analysis and given the scarcity of operators in many modern laboratories. AI, machine learning, and higher degrees of automation will be key partners in the future development of GC and GC–MS.

Q. What is the GC or GC–MS application area that you see growing the fastest?

JG: The energy market, specifically around alternative energy, is undergoing a renaissance. There is growth of H₂ energy production, transport, and qualification testing; end-use application qualification and testing, that is, transportation fuel cells, blending with natural gas for residential. There is also an expansion and evolution of the battery. Although currently a challenging end market, vehicle use continues to grow, enhanced by other end uses such as battery storage. Production, research, and recycling continue to expand, increasing analytical testing needs.

Interest in and use of synthetic aviation fuels (SAF) continues to increase. Commercial acceptance of biofuels only gets closer to reality with the recent trans-Atlantic flight using 100% SAF. Adoption of a new ASTM comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) method allows laboratories to test these fuels efficiently.

Lastly, a move to hydrogen as a carrier gas for GC–MS applications is of increasing interest. But this requires method redevelopment.

MS: I would say that environmental and food-related applications continue to be the most common application areas, where GC–MS is used to measure emerging contaminants. The list of emerging contaminants continues to grow, from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), to odorants and malodorants, microplastics to adulterants, and many more. One application area that is receiving a lot of attention, and is fast growing, is the application of GC–MS to clinical analysis. For example, hopefully in the not-too-distant future, we’ll be able to see breath analysis as a routine screening technique for early disease detection. Many new projects exist in this area, so a breakthrough should be coming soon.

EC: All the noise at the moment seems to centre around PFAS analysis. GC–MS is an important component in the PFAS analysis toolkit, especially as volatile and semi‑volatile compounds constitute a significant proportion of these environmental pollutants. We expect to see a growing list of regulated PFAS compounds in the coming months and years that will maintain the focus on their analysis.

BR: The first area that comes to mind is PFAS. While liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) is the method of choice for these compounds, GC–MS can be used for many of these compounds as well. It seems everywhere we read, we hear about new methods or findings dealing with these compounds. I believe these compounds will be areas of focus for analytical chemists for some time.

Second, microplastics come to mind as well. For these substances, there should be two areas of concern. First their presence in the environment is of concern from a health standpoint, especially for nanoparticles because they have many routes into an organism and do not exit readily. In addition, I believe we need to better understand the extent that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) will be absorbed into microplastics. It stands to reason that if microplastics are present in soil or water, that the POPs will tend to accumulate at higher concentrations in the plastic particles than in the water or soil. Then, if an organism is exposed to those particles, more severe health impacts are possible. We need to understand what plastics are present and at what levels, but we also need to understand the pollutants that are absorbed into the microplastics. GC and GC–MS will be important components in gaining those understandings.

Q. What was the biggest accomplishment or news in 2023–2024 for GC or GC–MS?

JG: The field of GC and GC–MS witnessed significant advances in the past year. These developments focus on enhancing system intelligence and operational efficiency. Two practical examples are:

Advanced Hydrogen Safety Sensors: By monitoring the atmosphere within the oven, advanced sensors can promptly detect hydrogen, enabling the system in response to shut down, adjust oven cooling flaps, and notify the operator. This safety feature ensures smoother operation and risk mitigation.

Helium Conservation: To address the global helium shortage, a new device was introduced that allows the GC or GC–MS system to switch between carrier gases. When not in use, it conserves helium by switching to nitrogen. Alternatively, it can use hydrogen. This flexibility ensures optimal performance while minimizing helium consumption.

Innovations such as these contribute to a more intelligent and sustainable GC and GC–MS landscape, benefiting both operators and scientific research.

MS: Green chemistry, with solvent‑less sample preparation, facilitated by vacuum‑assisted, high-capacity sorbent extraction; a wider adoption of hydrogen as carrier gas, reducing analysis time to increase laboratory productivity while at the same time saving money and the resource-limited helium carrier; and finally a higher acceptance and implementation of GC×GC with or without MS detection as a way of increasing the amount of information from every sample. I think we will see GC×GC developing into a routine technique with newer, easier hardware and software solutions being available now, just like one-dimensional GC (1D-GC).

EC: Improved compatibility of both MS and front-end applications for use with H₂ carrier gas has alleviated a lot of pressure on laboratories who have been able to save their precious helium supplies for applications where no alternative is viable.

BR: I have been in analytical chemistry and chromatography development for many years, and it is still amazing that we continue to get incremental improvements in our instrumentation as time goes on—fast temperature programming rates that allow analyses to be done faster, higher sensitivity for detectors. The ability to quantify and identify compounds at lower and lower levels is impressive.

It seems that several vendors are providing some possible ways to address the increased cost of helium, the most commonly used carrier gas in GC. Some have developed MS systems that can be used with hydrogen gas with good sensitivity. Others are implementing switching valve systems that allow changeover of carrier gases between runs to minimize the use of helium between runs or during downtime.

Jim Gearing is Associate Vice President of Marketing in the Agilent Gas Phase Separations Division.

Massimo Santoro is the Group Business Development Director at Markes International.

Ed Connor is a GC Product Manager at Peak Scientific.

Bruce Richter is the Vice President of Research & Development at Restek Corporation.