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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Quantitative Detection of Trace Explosive Vapors by Programmed Temperature Desorption Gas Chromatography-Electron Capture Detector
Published on: July 25, 2014
A quantitative universal detection system for organic compounds in gas chromatography with isotopically enriched
Sergio Cueto Díaz1, Jorge Ruiz Encinar, Alfredo Sanz-Medel
1Department of Physical and Analytical Chemistry, University of Oviedo, Julián Clavería 8, 33006 Oviedo, Spain.
Abstract:
Cheap and cheerful: Postcolumn carbon-isotope dilution with (13)CO(2) in combination with the coupling of gas chromatography, combustion, and EIMS (valve in position B in the picture) provides a generic quantitative approach for every organic compound without the need for specific standards. A GC-MS instrument can be upgraded by a simple low-cost modification without any loss of the structural information provided by electron ionization sources.
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