title: Use of nitrogen to remove solvent from through oven transfer adsorption desorption interface during analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by large volume injection in gas chromatography.
abstract: The through oven transfer adsorption desorption (TOTAD) interface allows large volume injection (LVI) in gas chromatography and the on-line coupling of liquid chromatography and gas chromatography (LC-GC), enabling the LC step to be carried out in normal as well as in reversed phase. However, large amounts of helium, which is both expensive and scarce, are necessary for solvent elimination. We describe how slight modification of the interface and the operating mode allows nitrogen to be used during the solvent elimination steps. In order to evaluate the performance of the new system, volumes ranging from 20 to 100μL of methanolic solutions of four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were sampled. No significant differences were found in the repeatability and sensitivity of the analyses of standard PAH solutions when using nitrogen or helium. The performance using the proposed modification was similar and equally satisfactory when using nitrogen or helium for solvent elimination in the TOTAD interface. In conclusion, the use of nitrogen will make analyses less expensive.
authors.affiliation: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071 Albacete, Spain.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Áragón
authors.affiliation: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071 Albacete, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosa M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Toledano
authors.affiliation: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071 Albacete, Spain. Electronic address: josemanuel.cortes@uclm.es.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cortés
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Educación, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071 Albacete, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Vázquez
authors.affiliation: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071 Albacete, Spain.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Villén
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000379:methods; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods; D000432:Methanol; D009584:Nitrogen; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012997:Solvents
chemical_list: D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012997:Solvents; D009584:Nitrogen; D000432:Methanol
keywords: Helium; Large volume GC injection; Nitrogen; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; TOTAD interface