Carbonates

[VAE]

Hi all ,

What is the best way to remove carbonates when you measure Carbohydrates on an HPAEC - PAD ?

thx

[eja85]

What brand of instrument do you have? Are you concerned with carbonate in the eluent or samples? Are you manually preparing your eluent?

[S_G]

Assuming you're preparing eluents and don't have an eluent generator. If you're analyzing a lot of sugar samples, I HIGHLY recommend purchasing an eluent generator. No carbonate issues and pump pistons and seals last so much longer!

Here's a list of things I'd do before obtaining a generator.

• Prepare eluents weekly using high purity 50% NaOH.
• Never pour from or shake the 50% bottle - only pipette and never closer than 1-2 inches from the bottom of the bottle. When the bottle gets crusty, time to replace.
• Change the piston/seal wash weekly. Carbonates tend to build up on the pistons and score the pistons and seals.
• Sparge if you have helium available. If not, a slow flow of nitrogen gas into the bottle to blanket the eluent and keep the CO2 out helps a lot.