Vol. 6, Issue 2, Part C (2024)

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. Gas chromatography is one of the sole forms of chromatography that does not utilize the mobile phase for interacting with the analyte. The stationary phase is either a solid adsorbent, termed gas-solid chromatography (GSC), or a liquid on an inert support, termed gas-liquid chromatography (GLC). Gas chromatography is an instrumental technique used forensically in drug analysis, arson, toxicology analyses of other organic compounds.