Detector conductivity

Ion chromatography is a convenient method for simultaneous determination of alkali, alkaline earth and ammonium ion concentrations in solution. The identity of the analytes is set by the retention times and quantation is carried out by a detector. Conductivity is frequently used, after chemical suppression of the eluate, by which chloride counterions were exchanged by hydroxide. UVV spectrophotometric measurement of hydroxide ions at 200 nm was proposed as an alternative method to suppressed conductivity. Both methods... 

Column, guard, HPIC-AG4A (37042) 1 Detector, conductivity (Dionex)... 

By combining the three most widely used detectors (conductivity, amperometric, and spectrophotometric) and using a gradient elution technique, the range of anions which can be determined in the same experimental procedure is extreme and offers a great flexibility. 

In addition to electrochemical and optical detectors, there have been a very wide variety of other kinds of detector systems that have been employed in experimental biosensors as noted in Fig. 1, including surface wave detectors, which are essentially mass detectors, conductivity, and thermal transducers. However, because of the need for reliability, flexibility, and sensitivity, electrochemical transducers are usually the system of choice because of the extensive research and manufacturing experience available. 

Detector Conductivity (nonsuppressed mode, indirect conductivity detection)... 

The usual circuit for a photoconductor consists of a bias battery and a resistor 7 - the load resistor - connected in series to the detector, as shown in Figure 4.13a. An increase in the detector conductance both increases the current and decreases the voltage across the detector. If the radiation is modulated, an AC voltage will result at point A this signal may be filtered and amplified. 

The chromatogram can finally be used as the series of bands or zones of components or the components can be eluted successively and then detected by various means (e.g. thermal conductivity, flame ionization, electron capture detectors, or the bands can be examined chemically). If the detection is non-destructive, preparative scale chromatography can separate measurable and useful quantities of components. The final detection stage can be coupled to a mass spectrometer (GCMS) and to a computer for final identification. 

The war itself also drove the development of improved and miniaturised electronic components for creating oscillators and amplifiers and, ultimately, semiconductors, which made practical the electronic systems needed in portable eddy current test instruments. The refinement of those systems continues to the present day and advances continue to be triggered by performance improvements of components and systems. In the same way that today s pocket calculator outperforms the large, hot room full of intercormected thermionic valves that I first saw in the 50 s, so it is with eddy current instrumentation. Today s handheld eddy current inspection instrument is a powerful tool which has the capability needed in a crack detector, corrosion detector, metal sorter, conductivity meter, coating thickness meter and so on. 

Alternatively, gas chromatography may be used Fig. XVII-5 shows a schematic readout of the thermal conductivity detector, the areas under the peaks giving the amount adsorbed or desorbed. 

Thermal Conductivity Detector One of the earliest gas chromatography detectors, which is still widely used, is based on the mobile phase s thermal conductivity (Figure 12.21). As the mobile phase exits the column, it passes over a tungsten-rhenium wire filament. The filament s electrical resistance depends on its temperature, which, in turn, depends on the thermal conductivity of the mobile phase. Because of its high thermal conductivity, helium is the mobile phase of choice when using a thermal conductivity detector (TCD). 

A universal GC detector in which the signal is a change in the thermal conductivity of the mobile phase. 

Schematic diagram of a thermai conductivity detector for gas chromatography.

Electrochemical Detectors Another common group of HPLC detectors are those based on electrochemical measurements such as amperometry, voltammetry, coulometry, and conductivity. Figure 12.29b, for example, shows an amperometric flow cell. Effluent from the column passes over the working electrode, which is held at a potential favorable for oxidizing or reducing the analytes. The potential is held constant relative to a downstream reference electrode, and the current flowing between the working and auxiliary electrodes is measured. Detection limits for amperometric electrochemical detection are 10 pg-1 ng of injected analyte. 

Ion-exchange columns can be substituted into the general HPLC instrument shown in Eigure 12.26. The most common detector measures the conductivity of the mobile phase as it elutes from the column. The high concentration of electrolyte in the mobile phase is a problem, however, because the mobile-phase ions dominate the conductivity, for example, if a dilute solution of HCl is used as the mobile phase, the presence of large concentrations of H3O+ and Ck produces a background conductivity that may prevent the detection of analytes eluting from the column. 

To minimize the mobile phase s contribution to conductivity, an ion-suppressor column is placed between the analytical column and the detector. This column selectively removes mobile-phase electrolyte ions without removing solute ions, for example, in cation ion-exchange chromatography using a dilute solution of HCl as... 

Detectors Most of the detectors used in HPLC also find use in capillary electrophoresis. Among the more common detectors are those based on the absorption of UV/Vis radiation, fluorescence, conductivity, amperometry, and mass spectrometry. Whenever possible, detection is done on-column before the solutes elute from the capillary tube and additional band broadening occurs. 

In this experiment phosphate is determined by singlecolumn, or nonsuppressed, ion chromatography using an anionic column and a conductivity detector. The mobile phase is a mixture of n-butanol, acetonitrile, and water (containing sodium gluconate, boric acid, and sodium tetraborate). 

Zhou and colleagues determined the %w/w H2O in methanol by GG, using a capillary column coated with a nonpolar stationary phase and a thermal conductivity detector. A series of calibration standards gave the following results. 

---