Diagnostic:
Late eluters
One source of
extra peaks in a chromatogram is "late eluters": strongly retained
peaks from a previously injected sample. Because peak width in chromatography is
predictable, neighboring peaks in a chromatogram should have roughly
similar widths (for isocratic separations, later peaks will be slightly
wider than earlier peaks). The width of an extra or artifact peak can
provide information about its source.
If the width of
the extra peak is comparable to that of nearby peaks, it is likely
to be a component of the current sample.
If the extra peak
is significantly wider than nearby peaks, it is likely to be a
late-eluting component from a previous sample.
Ref: LC-GC
17(3)
230 (1999)
Ref: LC-GC
18(11)
1136 (2000)
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