PROCEDURE FOR TESTING INERTNESS OF INSERTS AND INSERT PACKING MATERIALS FOR GC INJECTORS

The inertness of injector inserts and insert packing materials, such a s glass or fused silica wool, is tested by a procedure based on split injection and rapid isothermal chromatography. Resulting sharp peaks s ensitively reveal peak deformation resulting from adsorptivity, acid/b ase interaction, and excessive retention power. Degradation of labile components is detected by loss of material and degradation products. A dsorptivity was no problem on injecting 300 ng amounts. Degradation on ly occurred for raw wools; however, the retention power of some wools seemed unnecessarily high. On injection of smaller quantities, degrada tion remained similar, but adsorptivity increased significantly.