SOLID-PHASE MICROEXTRACTION ISOTHERMAL GC FOR RAPID ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX ORGANIC-SAMPLES

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) was used as the sample introduction technique for high-speed isothermal GC. An injector dedicated for SPM E fiber injection was designed and built. The injector was operated in two modes, continuously heated and flash heated. The latter mode prov ed to be better for high-speed separations. The injector was then used for sample introduction in separation of BTEX, When sampling directly from water with a fiber having a 56 mu m thick poly(dimethylsiloxane) coating, the BTEX components were separated under isothermal conditio ns in ca, 18 s. A fiber with a thinner coating (15 mu m) enabled the s eparation to be completed in ca. 12 s when sampling from headspace. In both cases the results were highly reproducible, as measured by the e stimated values of the relative standard deviation.