Second-Dimension Temperature Programming System for Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography. Part 1: Precise...

A second-dimension temperature programming system (²DTPS) for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC × GC) is introduced, and its performance is characterized. In the system, a commercial stainless-steel capillary column was used for the separation, as a heating element, and as a temperature sensor. The second dimension (²D) column was resistively heated and controlled using an Arduino Uno R3 microcontroller. Temperature measurement was accomplished by measuring the overall ²D column's electrical resistance. A diesel sample was used to compare the ²D peak capacity (²n_c) and resolution (²R_s), while a perfume sample was used to compare the reproducibility of the system for within-day (n = 5) and day-to-day (n = 5) results. The ²n_c improved by 52% with the ²DTPS compared to the secondary oven. The GC × GC system utilizing the ²DTPS had an average within-day and day-to-day relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.02 and 0.12% for the ¹D retention time (¹t_R), 0.56 and 0.58% for the ²D retention time (²t_R), and 1.18 and 1.53% for the peak area, respectively.