Journal of Laboratory Chemical Education
2016; 4(1): 19-24
doi:10.5923/j.jlce.20160401.04
Michael J. Samide, Anne M. Wilson, Deven Shinholt, Jeri Smith
Clowes Department of Chemistry, Butler University, Indianapolis, USA
Correspondence to: Anne M. Wilson, Clowes Department of Chemistry, Butler University, Indianapolis, USA.
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Copyright © 2016 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are present in variety of food items including herbs, spices, and citrus, coffee, and flavored cigarettes. Gas Chromatography (GC), often paired with mass spectrometry (MS) is one of the most common instrumental methods to identify these VOCs. A myriad of approaches exist to prepare and deliver these VOCs for chromatographic analysis; examples include headspace, SPME, and solvent extraction. Herein, we describe an alternate approach for VOC analysis based on evolved gas analysis (EGA). A simple, low-cost device is connected to the injector port of a GC. Solid samples are introduced into the oven of the device for a set time and any VOCs produced are immediately carried to the GC for analysis. This instrument has been adapted for analysis of VOCs from solid samples in an analytical chemistry course.
Keywords: Evolved gas analysis, Volatile organic compounds, Gas chromatography, Herbs, Spices, Coffee, Tobacco
Cite this paper: Michael J. Samide, Anne M. Wilson, Deven Shinholt, Jeri Smith, Development of a Low-Cost Evolved-Gas Analysis (EGA) Device for the Rapid Detection of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from Common Household Items, Journal of Laboratory Chemical Education, Vol. 4 No. 1, 2016, pp. 19-24. doi: 10.5923/j.jlce.20160401.04.
Figure 2. EGA apparatus installed on the inlet of an Agilent 6890 GC/FID. A. Splice in He carrier gas line. B. Plug for remaining line welded to inlet. C. Cool zone (ambient). D. Warm zone (180°C) |
Figure 3. Signal area as a function of time for evolved-gas analysis for replicate analyses of a 300ppm limonene, carvone, and eugenol standard (n≥3) |
Figure 4. Signal area as a function of the temperature used for evolved-gas analysis for replicate analyses of a 300ppm limonene, carvone, and eugenol standard (n≥3) |
Figure 5. Chromatograms from the EGA (180°C for 60 sec) of (A) 5 mg of oregano, (B) 12 mg of caraway seed, (C) 13 mg of Valencia orange peel, and (D) 5 mg of freshly ground clove |
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Figure 6. Sample Chromatogram of a Mentholated Cigarette |