Flame ionization detector element-selective

Other Detectors Two additional detectors are similar in design to a flame ionization detector. In the flame photometric detector optical emission from phosphorus and sulfur provides a detector selective for compounds containing these elements. The thermionic detector responds to compounds containing nitrogen or phosphorus. 

The FID may be operated as an element-selective detector after minor modification. The hydrogen atmosphere flame ionization detector (HAFID) can be made selective towards organometalllc... 

A flame photometric detector measures optical emission from phosphorus, sulfur, lead, tin, or other selected elements. When eluate passes through a Hrair flame, as in the flame ionization detector, excited atoms emit characteristic light. Phosphorus emission at 536 nm or sulfur emission at 394 nm can be isolated by a narrow-band interference filter and detected with a photomultiplier tube. 

The alkali flame-ionization detector, sometimes called an NP or nitrogen-phosphorus detector, contains a thermionic source, such as an alkali-metal salt or a glass element containing rubidium or other metal, that results in the efficient ionization of organic nitrogen and phosphorus compounds. It is a selective detector that shows little response to hydrocarbons. 

Selective detectors can be selective towards elements, structure, or other properties. The flame ionization detector (FID) reacts selectively to substances that are ionized in a hydrogen/air flame (very broad selectivity). It is useful for the analysis of aqueous samples, as the water is not recorded. The electron capture detector (ECD) is selective for halogenated compounds. 

Eluate from a chromatography column can be passed through a plasma to atomize and ionize its components and measure selected elements by atomic emission spectroscopy or mass spectrometry. An atomic emission detector directs eluate through a helium plasma in a microwave cavity. Every element of the periodic table produces characteristic emission that can be detected by a photodiode array polychromator (Figure 20-14). Sensitivity for sulfur can be 10 times better than the sensitivity of a flame photometric detector. 

The identification of the chemical forms of an element has become an important and challenging research area in environmental and biomedical studies. Two complementary techniques are necessary for trace element speciation. One provides an efficient and reliable separation procedure, and the other provides adequate detection and quantitation [4]. In its various analytical manifestations, chromatography is a powerful tool for the separation of a vast variety of chemical species. Some popular chromatographic detectors, such flame ionization (FID) and thermal conductivity (TCD) detectors are bulk-property detectors, responding to changes produced by eluates in a characteristic mobile-phase physical property [5]. These detectors are effectively universal, but they provide little specific information about the nature of the separated chemical species. Atomic spectroscopy offers the possibility of selectively detecting a wide rang of metals and nonmetals. The use of detectors responsive only to selected elements in a multicomponent mixture drastically reduces the constraints placed on the separation step, as only those components in the mixture which contain the element of interest will be detected... 

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