Retention modeling and retention time prediction in gas chromatography and flow-modulation comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography: The contribution of pressure on solute partition

- The effects of pressure of solute partition and retention in GC.
- Improvement of predicted retention time accuracy considering pressure contribution.
- The relevance of considering pressure in GC and FM-GCxGC.
- A new method for stationary phase film thickness determination.
- The accuracy of gas velocity calculation in the two columns in FM-GCxGC.

This study aims at modelling and predicting solute retention in capillary Gas Chromatography (GC) and Flow Modulation comprehensive GC (FM-GCxGC). A new thermodynamic model, taking into account the effects of temperature and pressure, is proposed to describe the variation of the equilibrium partition constant of a solute during its elution. This retention model was challenged with the classical one, and both were applied to: (i) stationary phase film thickness indirect estimation; (ii) retention time (RT) prediction of a set of 11 model polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on the SLB-IL60 and DB-35MS columns, in temperature-programmed mode. Film thickness determination led to values about 2 times lower than those indicated by column nominal dimensions, whatever the employed model. Prediction of retention times in GC led to 0.84 and 0.26% mean errors using the classical and the extended models, respectively. Prediction in GCxGC gave 5.5 and 0.44% mean errors in 1st dimension RTs, and 7.3 and 2.2% mean errors in 2nd dimension RTs, using the classical and the extended models, respectively.