Abstract
Packed-column supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) was connected to an electron-capture detector (ECD) in order to determine polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the environment. The separation of PCBs was conducted on octadecylsilyl (ODS)-silica gel columns using carbon dioxide as a mobile phase without a modifier. The detection temperature of ECD was set up to 325°C according to the sensitivity to the PCBs. The capacity factor of the PCBs was affected by the density of the mobile phase and the pore structure of ODS-silica gel. The SFC-ECD system was applied to the determination of PCBs in sediment samples using a pressure-programming mode. The base-line drift of the chromatogram was accompanied by an increase in the pressure of carbon dioxide, which could be adjusted by an integrator. The packed-column SFC detected by ECD was found to be useful for determining PCBs in the environment.
