What is the stationary phase in gas chromatography?
1 Answer
The part that doesn't move - usually a bound polymer.
Explain below
Explanation:
The mobile phase in GC is usually some inert gas, like maybe Argon. You inject your sample into the machine and it is carried along by the mobile phase.
The Stationary phase is generally a polymer bound to a matrix and is generally hydrophobic in nature. Since it acts like a liquid (it is not necessarily a liquid, since it is bound to a matrix, but long carbon chains are all clumped together like a kelp forest in the ocean......they resemble something like an liquid oil environment), the injected sample will "dissolve" into the liquid, then "boil out" according to column temperature, sample boiling points, and vapor pressure of the sample.
This "in - out" characteristic of the sample as it moves down the column (moving because as soon as it goes into the vapor phase from the stationary phase, the mobile phase carries it forward) results in samples becoming separated based on their individual characteristics (boiling point, polarity, vapor pressure). In this way, GC can separate volatile compounds quite easily.
