Cryofocusing in the combination of gas chromatography with equilibrium headspace sampling

Summary When headspace gas chromatography utilizing capillary columns is used for trace analysis, sample enrichment is often needed. This involves splitless sample injection of fairly large gas volumes and relatively long sampling times. As a result of this, the band of the sample vapor may be too large causing peak distortion and poor resolution. This problem can be easily overcome by the use of cryogenic trapping. While this can be accomplished by cooling the whole column to subambient temperature during sample introduction, a more convenient way is to utilize part of the first coil of the capillary column as a cryogenic trap.The paper discusses the theoretical background and instrumentation of cryogenic trapping and demonstrates the possibilities through a number of examples.Enlarged text of a paper presented at the 37th Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Atlantic City, NJ, March 10–14, 1986.