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1 year ago
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causes for baseline drifting

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Avatar youhana Hosny 1 year ago

Column temperature fluctuation – Use a thermostat column oven. Use a thermometer to check the accuracy of the set temperature.
Incorrect mobile phase composition – Prepare fresh mobile phase. Check mixer is working for gradient methods.
Contamination of detector flow cell – Flush flow cell with a strong organic solvent. If no improvement is seen, change the flow cell.
Damaged flow cell – Replace flow cell.
Pump outlet blocked – Remove blockage. If no improvement is seen, replace outlet.
Flow rate change – Reset flow rate. Test using liquid flow meter.
Poor column equilibration – Increase column equilibration time. If recently changed mobile phase, purge the system and pump of old solvent with new mobile phase using 20 column volumes.
Retained peaks look like baseline drifts –Use a guard column. Thoroughly flush the column with a strong organic solvent before the next injection.
UV detector not set at maximum absorbance – Use maximum absorbance wavelength of target compound(s)
Reference wavelength of detector is incorrect – Ensure reference wavelength of the detector is different to target compounds.
UV absorbing mobile phase – Use non-UV absorbing HPLC grade solvent.

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Frequently Asked Questions: HPLC Analysis & Chromatography

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is an analytical technique used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. It relies on a pump to pass a pressurized liquid solvent containing the sample mixture through a column filled with a solid adsorbent material. Each component in the sample interacts slightly differently with the adsorbent material, causing different flow rates for the different components and leading to the separation of the components as they flow out of the column.

Column efficiency is typically measured by the number of Theoretical Plates ($N$). The most common formula is $N = 16 \times (t_r / W)^2$, where $t_r$ is the retention time and $W$ is the peak width at the base. A higher number of theoretical plates indicates a sharper peak and better analytical separation. You can calculate this instantly using our Theoretical Plates Calculator.

The ICH (International Council for Harmonisation) Q2(R1) guidelines mandate specific validation parameters for HPLC methods. These include assessing Accuracy, Precision (Repeatability and Intermediate Precision), Specificity, Detection Limit (LOD), Quantitation Limit (LOQ), Linearity, and Range. Our calculators are designed specifically to help analysts easily compute these linearity, LOD/LOQ, and %RSD parameters in compliance with ICH standards.
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