Explanation IC / HPLC / VFA / column recommendation

[roador]

Dear All,

i have problems understanding the exact difference between IC and HPLC -

is there one? or does it just depend on the column, how you name it?

I now wanna switch to a HPLC to get analyse the different VFAs - my former approach with GC failed -as everybody suggested.

I thought on buying a Aminex HPX-87H - is this a good solution or any other recommendations?

Thank you very much for your help, i really appreciate that!

Harry

[tom jupille]

"IC" is basically a specialized form of HPLC. The term "ion chromatography" was originally coined in the late '70s to distinguish Dionex's (then) proprietary technology from what the rest of the world was doing in "ion exchange chromatography". It is most widely applied to the combination of ion-exchange separation with post-column treatment to reduce buffer conductivity and conductivity detection.

Yes, the HPX87X is a good choice for fatty acids analysis (in fact, that's what it was designed for).

[Narsil]

Yes, we are also working with that column. It is ok - at least we did not find a better one since we did not want to analyse VFAs on a GC.
The analysis time is really long but the separation is ok. It depends on the matrices I suppose.

[roador]

hello tom jupille, Narsil,

thanks very much for your help - our HPLC setup is now complete and i think i will get the Aminex Column.

@Narsil: do you have a good protocol? i found this in a few papers, maybe you can get me your thought on it?

“Volatile fatty acids (acetate, propionate, butyrate and valerate) were analysed by HPLC using a BioRad Aminex HPX-87H column, with 0.01N sulphuric acid as eluent, an elution rate of 0.6 ml/min and an operating temperature of 50 °C. A UV detector (Merck) set at 210 nm was used. Prior to injection, samples were filtered using a 0.2 μm membrane.â€