New developments and experiences with glass capillary column production and sampling techniques

Summary

An introductory discussion is given on the manufacture of glass capillary columns, including details of the methods of column testing and of the properties of the inner surfaces of glass capillaries. As a result a simple method for the testing of various kinds of support surfaces is presented which allows stepwise control of the column making procedure. A new kind of pretreatment of soft glass surfaces with HCl and HF at 450°C is described which allows the production of non-polar columns with much improved tailing behaviour for strongly polar solutes. Concerning capillary column sampling a new technique of “direct” sampling without previous vaporisation of the sample outside the column is presented together with a double column system for “selective” sampling of complex mixtures.