Gas chromatography

Gas chromatography (GC) is an analytical technique used to separate and

detect the chemical components of a sample mixture to determine their
presence or absence and/or quantities. These chemical components are
usually organic molecules or gases. For GC to be successful in their analysis,
these components need to be volatile, usually with a molecular weight
below 1250 Da, and thermally stable so they don’t degrade in the GC
system. GC is a widely used technique across most industries, including for:
❖ Quality control in the manufacture of many products from cars to
chemicals and petrochemicals, to pharmaceuticals
❖ Research purposes from the analysis of meteorites to natural products
❖ Safety and monitoring from environmental samples, microplastics and
food and wine, to forensics.
 The principle of gas chromatography

Components in the mixture are distributed between two phases,

one of which is a stationary phase, and the other is a mobile
phase gas, or carrier gas, that carries the mixture through the
stationary phase. Compounds in the mobile phase interact with
the stationary phase as they pass through. Due to the differences
in properties and structures of each component, the size and
affinity of each interaction with the stationary phase are different.
Therefore, under the same driving force, the retention time of
different components differs in the column, thus moving out of
the column in different orders.
When a mixed solution sample is injected into the GC system, the
compounds contained in the sample, including the solvent components, are
heated and vaporized within the sample injection unit.

With GC system, the mobile phase, referred to as the carrier gas, always flows
in sequence from the sample injection unit to the column, and then to the
detector. The target components that were vaporized in the sample injection
unit are transported by the carrier gas to the column. Once in the column,
the mixture of compounds is separated into the various components, and the
amount of each compound is then measured by the detector.
The detector converts the amount of each compound into an electrical
signal, and sends these signals to a data processing unit. The data
obtained enables determination of the compounds contained in the
sample, and in what amounts.
 Gas Chromatography

Divided into two major categories:

1. Gas-liquid chromatography (GLC)--- mobile phase is
gas and the stationary phase is a thin layer of non-
volatile liquid coated on an inert support.
2. Gas-solid chromatography (GSC), mobile phase gas
and the stationary phase is a solid large surface .
INSTRUMENTATION OF GC
A typical GC consists of the following
instruments:
• Gas carrier
• Flow controller
• Sample injector
• Column
• Oven
• Detector and
• Recorder
1. Gas carrier 2. Flow controller 6. Sample injector 7. Column 8. Oven 9.
Detector and 10. Recorder
 Instrumentation of GLC
Gas-liquid chromatographs (GLCs) have a number of basic features in common.
These are illustrated schematically in Figure. Parts 1–5 are associated with
supplying the dry carrier gas, usually helium or nitro- gen, and allowing an
operator to control its flow. The mixture to be separated is injected using a gas-
tight syringe through a septum into the injection block (6), an individually heated
chamber in which the sample is immediately vaporized. The sample then enters
the flowing stream of carrier gas and is swept into and through the column (7),
which is located in an oven (8) and consists of coiled aluminum, stainless steel, or
glass tubing containing an appropriate stationary phase. In the column, the
individual components separate into bands that ultimately pass through a
detector (9), producing a signal whose voltage is proportional to the amount of
material other than carrier gas present in the mobile phase. One type of detector
that is commonly used is the thermal conductivity detector (TCD), which
operates on the basis of differences in the thermal conductivity of the mobile
phase as a function of its composition. A flame ionization detector (FID) is much
more sensitive and functions by detecting the number of ions produced by
passing the mobile phase through a hydrogen flame. The recorder (10) plots the
changes in voltage measured by the detector as a function of time to give the gas
chromatogram. The vapors then pass from the detector into either the
atmosphere or a collection device at the exit port (11).
Detector Applications
Thermal conductivity (TCD) Universal
Flame ionization (FID)) Most carbon compounds
Electron capture (ECD) Halogenated compounds
Photo ionization (PlD) Aromatic compounds

Flame photometric (FPD) S- and P-Containing Compounds

Atomic emission (AED) Metals; halogens, C- and O-containing

compounds
Electroconductivity (ECD) S-, N-, and halogen-containing
compounds
Chemiluminescent S-containing compounds

Mass spectrometer (MSD) Variety of compounds

Applications
GC analysis is used to calculate the content of a chemical product,
for example in assuring the quality of products in the chemical
industry; or measuring toxic substances in soil, air or water.
Gas chromatography is used in the analysis of:
(a) air-borne pollutants
(b) performance-enhancing drugs in athlete’s urine samples
(c) oil spills
(d) essential oils in perfume preparation
❖ GC is very accurate if used properly and can measure picomoles of a
substance in a 1 ml liquid sample, or parts-per-billion concentrations in
gaseous samples.
❖ Gas Chromatography is used extensively in forensic science. Disciplines
as diverse as solid drug dose (pre-consumption form) identification and
quantification, arson investigation, paint chip analysis, and toxicology
cases, employ GC to identify and quantify various biological specimens
and crime-scene evidence.
Advantages
❖The use of longer columns and higher velocity of carrier gas permits the fast
separation in a matter of a few minutes.
❖Higher working temperatures up to 5000C and the possibility of converting any
material into a volatile component make gas chromatography one of the most
versatile techniques.
❖GC is popular for environmental monitoring and industrial applications because it is
very reliable and can be run nearly continuously.
❖GC is typically used in applications where small, volatile molecules are detected
and with non-aqueous solutions.
❖GC is favored for non-polar molecules.
Limitations
❖Compound to be analyzed should be stable under GC operation
conditions.
❖They should have a vapor pressure significantly greater than zero.
❖Typically, the compounds analyzed are less than 1,000 Da, because it is
difficult to vaporize larger compounds.
❖The samples are also required to be salt-free; they should not contain
ions.
❖Very minute amounts of a substance can be measured, but it is often
required that the sample must be measured in comparison to a sample
containing the pure, suspected substance known as a reference standard.