Properties of Ionic Liquid Phases

The retention mechanism is different from the traditional silicon phase systems. It appears from the available application reports that the phase solubility is of low importance (as of like separates like ). Retention of the analytes is mainly caused by electrostatic and dipole/dipole interactions. With increased polarities, peak widths of low polar analytes increase, for example, of petroleum hydrocarbons, due to a poor wetting of the phase surface, while polar analytes are increasingly retained (Whitmarsh, 2012). Ionic liquid stationary phases seem to have a 

Ionic hquids provide a different selectivity from traditional sihcon polymer GC phases. They are not susceptible to same stabihty issues as siloxane and PEG-based phases, allow higher maximum temperatures than traditional phases of comparable polarity. The extended temperature operating range is best seen in comparison with the known PEG phases. GC-MS applications benefit from a lower bleed and achieve the compound elution at lower oven temperatures. 

Ionic liquid column phases extend the polarity range of GC phases, improve lab productivity by shorter run times and can be used for a wide variety of applications. 

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