Capturing of volatiles emitted by living plants by means of thick film open tubular traps

Fused silica open tubular traps coated with a 15μm film of methyl silicone have been successfully applied to capture volatiles emitted by living plants. The atmosphere surrounding the plants is sucked through the trap where the volatiles are retained. After sampling, the trap is installed as pre-column in a multidimensional CGC system. The volatiles are thermally desorbed, reconcentrated in a cold trap and analyzed on-line on the analytical capillary column.