At its core, the term “chromatography” relates to the analysis of liquids and the compounds therein. High Performance Liquid Chromatography or HPLC, seeks to separate, aggregate, and examine the quality and quantity of dissolved material. The result is a chromatogram – a visual and graphical display of solvent-to-compound data. Here’s a brief overview of the technology involved and what information revealed itself when a chromatograph is produced.
Components of HPLC
Several components come together to aid solvent flow. There’s the degassing unit, an apparatus tasked with removing dissolved air from the solvent. A delivery pump keeps the solvent flowing consistently. The injector empties the sample vial into the column, and the detector processes signals, creating a chromatogram.
Overview of HPLC Process
A particular type of solvent (usually organic) is required to perform High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Also referred to as the mobile phase, the solvent’s job is to highlight solids within a liquid sample. The phase moves towards the solvent delivery pump and is then concentrated through a separation column or stationary phase. After this second phase, the solvent progresses to the detector, where each compound is analyzed. Mixture components are separated at the column. The detector then makes an electrical signal out of each compound as it passes.
Two-dimensional graphs produced by HPLC show analysis time on the horizontal axis and detector signal intensity on the verticle axis.
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