Multicapillary column gas chromatography with element-selective detection

Multicapillary column gas chromatography (MC GC) is presented as a novel te chnique for the time-resolved sample introduction of gaseous analytes in at omic spectrometry. The principles and the theory of MC GC, the coupling of MC GC with microwave-induced plasma atomic emission spectrometry and with i nductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and features of the coupled te chniques developed are discussed. Applications of MC GC with element-select ive detection to species-selective analysis are reviewed. The possibility o f incorporating MC columns into dedicated sample preparation accessories fo r elemental speciation by atomic spectrometry is evaluated. (C) 1999 Elsevi er Science B.V. All rights reserved.