Abstract

Since its introduction over 60 years ago, gas chromatography (GC) has become a cornerstone technique of analytical chemistry. While the basic components of a GC instrument have not changed since its introduction by Martin and James in 1952, instrumentation refinement has answered demands for faster, more sensitive and selective separations of complex samples. This review will discuss the advances made in GC instrumentation within the past few years as found in the literature, granted patents and commercial advances. The revival of older instrumentation techniques for current applications will also be discussed. Hardware advances discussed include new injection techniques, advances in heating technology (including resistive heating and two source heating for GC ovens) , with the largest volume of work being done in the development of new detectors. A brief discussion on commercially available portable GCs is also included. Advances in the realm of column technology, such as commercialization of high temperature silica capillaries and stationary phases stable to 480°C, are also discussed. Novel GC stationary phase development has incorporated such materials as sol-gel poly(ethylene glycol), nanoparticles, ionic liquids, and co-polymers. Stationary phases are also discussed in relation to microfabricated GC, i.e. chip-based GC. The extensive work being completed in μGC is discussed herein, including column interfacial components for rapid heating, as well as sensitive and selective detection.

Keywords: gas chromatography, analytical instrumentation, hardware advances