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Chromatography

  • Page ID
    298
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    Chromatography is a method by which a mixture is separated by distributing its components between two phases. The stationary phase remains fixed in place while the mobile phase carries the components of the mixture through the medium being used. The stationary phase acts as a constraint on many of the components in a mixture, slowing them down to move slower than the mobile phase. The movement of the components in the mobile phase is controlled by the significance of their interactions with the mobile and/or stationary phases. Because of the differences in factors such as the solubility of certain components in the mobile phase and the strength of their affinities for the stationary phase, some components will move faster than others, thus facilitating the separation of the components within that mixture.

    • Chromatographic Columns
      Chromatography is an analytical technique that separates components in a mixture. Chromatographic columns are part of the instrumentation that is used in chromatography. Five chromatographic methods that use columns are gas chromatography (GC), liquid chromatography (LC), Ion exchange chromatography (IEC), size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and chiral chromatography. The basic principals of chromatography can be applied to all five methods.
    • Chromatography
      Chromatography is a method by which a mixture is separated by distributing its components between two phases. The stationary phase remains fixed in place while the mobile phase carries the components of the mixture through the medium being used. The stationary phase acts as a constraint on many of the components in a mixture, slowing them down to move slower than the mobile phase.
    • Gas Chromatography
      Gas chromatography is a term used to describe the group of analytical separation techniques used to analyze volatile substances in the gas phase. In gas chromatography, the components of a sample are dissolved in a solvent and vaporized in order to separate the analytes by distributing the sample between two phases: a stationary phase and a mobile phase. The mobile phase is a chemically inert gas that serves to carry the molecules of the analyte through the heated column.
    • High Performance Liquid Chromatography
      High Performance Liquid Chromotagraphy (HPLC) is an analytical technique used for the separation of compounds soluble in a particular solvent.
    • Liquid Chromatography
      Liquid chromatography is a technique used to separate a sample into its individual parts. This separation occurs based on the interactions of the sample with the mobile and stationary phases. Because there are many stationary/mobile phase combinations that can be employed when separating a mixture, there are several different types of chromatography that are classified based on the physical states of those phases. Liquid-solid column chromatography, the most popular chromatography technique.

    Thumbnail: Two-dimensional chromatograph GCxGC-TOFMS at Chemical Faculty of GUT Gdańsk, Poland, 2016. (CC BY-SA 4.0; LukaszKatlewa).


    Chromatography is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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