Comparison with radioisotope detection

The large gain in sensitivity afforded by on-line radioisotope detection in comparison with the more commonly used UV-absorbance detector is illustrated in Figure 7. In this example, a UV-absorbance detector, monitoring at 254 nm, was positioned 8.5 cm downstream from a CdTe radioisotope detector, and 2P-labeled ATP was injected at a concentration of approximately 5 x 10 M. Under these conditions, ATP is detected with an excellent signal-to-noise ratio by the radioisotope detector but is completely undetectable by UV absorbance. 

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