| Abstract: | Ten different metal tubings were investigated for thermal decomposition of analytes when used as the trap tube in a cryotrap/thermodesorption inlet system. No noticeable sample decomposition of hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons and a brominated hydrocarbon was observed for six of the tubings with hydrogen as the carrier gas. This observation may be partly attributed to the developed deactivation techniques that produce inert metal tubings that are being widely adopted by many column manufacturers, the different trap materials used in comparison to previous studies and the decreased sample residence time in the hot trap tube. A cryotrap using carbon dioxide was constructed and tested as a alternative to the previously used liquid nitrogen based systems. This cryotrap was able to trap compounds with a boiling point of 80°C. |
