Trends in chromatography

Chromatography has traditionally been a technique used in the lab to separate and analyze substances. Examples of chromatography techniques include gas chromatography (GC), liquid chromatography (LC) and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). During the day LabNL the latest developments within this field will be discussed. Johan Scholtens, market manager at Shimadzu Benelux, gives us an insight into interesting innovations of today and promising technologies for the future. 

By: Dimitri Reijerman 

In the lab world, supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is seen as a welcome addition to traditional liquid chromatography (HPLC). Scholtens: “The basic techniques used in the lab are often gas chromatography and liquid chromatography. These two techniques generate about 80 to 90 percent of the turnover at many laboratories. But now SFC is being added as an emerging technology. And SFC is on the rise.” 

“There are about five companies that control this market, including Shimadzu,” says Scholtens. “These companies also carry out the most innovations. If you look at SFC, more and more time and money has been invested in the further development of this technology in recent years.” 

“If you look at High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC, also called high-pressure liquid chromatography) and preparative HPLC, it is often used as a front for mass spectrometry. If you want to work with mass spectrometry, then SFC, which uses CO2 as a moving fluid, is certainly interesting. Compared to HPLC, SFC offers higher sensitivity and specificity when analyzing complex samples.” 

More plus points SFC
Another advantage of SFC is that the process produces less waste, because the solvents used are less toxic than usual. Moreover, this results in lower costs, Scholtens believes, while the technology is being used more and more often: “At SFC you had for a long time early developers. These startups have largely been bought by a number of large developers. You can now point out that SFC is much more applicable in the daily work routine. Previously, this chromatography technique often caused problems: it was not robust enough and difficult to replicate. Moreover, SFC is now regularly used for preparative HLPC or as an extraction fluid. In summary, you can say that SFC is being used more and more widely, especially in the pharmaceutical world. Yet you also see a movement towards SFC within the food sector.” 

Although the costs of using SFC are often lower, this is not always the case, says Scholtens: “SFC has become cheaper in recent years, but is still a factor of 1.5 more expensive than standard HPLC. We always work with modular systems, so as a lab you can start with a simple system. You can later expand this with, for example, a fraction collector, or – if you want to work both preparatively and analytically – you can add switching systems or columns.”

Artificial intelligence
In addition to improvements in liquid chromatography, the Shimadzu expert also sees other technological innovations emerging: “Artificial Intelligence (AI) will also become increasingly important in chromatography. In this way you try to make a system work increasingly autonomously. For example, if a problem suddenly arises, such as a drop in pressure or some other fluctuation, the AI can decide to restart the entire system and reinject the sample it was working on. We have already implemented this principle at Shimadzu in a number of systems. You are increasingly moving towards systems that think along.” 

Yet the scientific world continues to raise the bar. “Scientists always look at detection limits,” says Scholtens. “They always want to be able to measure less, less and even less. Researchers also strive to get the most out of a sample. You want the detector to be able to measure everything immediately during chromatography. You must combine equipment that can quantify excellently with components that can qualify very well. We and other companies are working on this. And with HPLC you always want to be able to work faster and more robustly. You can achieve this with ultra high-pressure liquid chromatography. Other promising developments, but largely still in their early stages, are high-temperature liquid chromatography and 2D LC.” 

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