Liquid chromatography–flame ionisation detection using a nebuliser/spray chamber interface. Part 1. Design and testing

Abstract

A nebuliser and spray chamber have been used to link a flow injection analyser to a flame ionisation detector, with the potential for the combination to be used as a universal detector for liquid chromatography. The hydrogen and air flows were adjusted to achieve a stable system. The detector responded to both volatile and involatile analytes and to compounds with and without chromophores, including alkanes, alkanols, aromatic amides and acids, phenols, amino-acids and carbohydrates and gave a linear response for many analytes. However, for involatile polar analytes it was necessary to add traces of acid or salt to the carrier stream to obtain a linear response.

An overview of approaches in liquid chromatography flame ionization detection

“…alcohols [13][14][15], pharmaceuticals [16] or lipids [17]. The drop cell interface [18,19], fused silica based capillary jet interfaces [13,20,21], stainless steel capillary jet interfaces [22] or the nebulizer/spray chamber [23,24] have become promising techniques, capable to detect a wide variety of volatile and non-volatile compounds.…”

“…The micro flow nebulizer interface by Young et al presents the latest development in LC/FID hyphenation [23,24]. The set up contains a modified micro-concentric nebulizer adapted to a centrifugal spray chamber with a dimple.…”

“…The column effluent is nebulized by use of a nebulizer gas at ambient temperatures. Samples are not directly introduced into the FID, in contrast, the sample aerosol is transferred via a carrier gas through a glass tube into a modified FID (Figure 6b) [23]. To avoid flash evaporation, a restrictive capillary is used to keep a sufficient backpressure in the system and in addition to work as capillary jet of the micro flow nebulizer.…”

“…Alcohols, aliphatic and aromatic ketones, acids, amines and glycols were successfully separated by RP-C18 columns and measured by the micro flow nebulizer spray chamber interface. The broad spectra of investigated volatile and semi-volatile analytes are presented in two major publications [23,24]. A substantial advantage of the conveyor type interfaces is the ability to be used for high molecular nonvolatile analytes such as bio-polymers.…”

High-Temperature Liquid Chromatography

“…The examples which were chosen in this chapter to illustrate this statement have been mainly taken to show the potential benefit for environmental and food applications; however, there are other hyphenation techniques which have not been explicitly mentioned and are beyond the scope of this chapter. These include the hyphenation of HTLC with flame ionization detection 136,137 and the coupling of HTLC to a continuous-flow biochemical screening assay with electrospray ionization mass spectrometric detection. 138 The software and hardware tools that are necessary to implement HTLC are commercially available.…”