Highly Sensitive Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Coupling to Thermal Analyzers for Precise Identification of Gas Species
How to best identify the evolved gases in complex gas mixtures? Separate the gas species first!
The primary scope of TGA/STA-GC-MS coupling is to detect, separate and analyze organic components.
GC is a high-resolution method for separating volatile and semi-volatile compounds. The gas mixtures are separated based on the differences in component distribution between a stationary phase (e.g. inner coating of a capillary) and a mobile phase (purge gas; e.g., helium). Since the gas separation in the GC column takes a certain amount of time (the duration depends on sample characteristics, column flow rate, column length, and stationary and mobile phase), it is not possible to couple directly into the GC with a continuous online sample gas flow.
The NETZSCH Solution: Quasi-Direct Coupling
Our response therefore, was to develop a direct coupling solution in a quasi-continuous mode by using heated automatic valves, this allows for software-controlled gas sampling (flow-through sampling loop) and gas injection even at short intervals.