This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is in the general area of analytical and surface chemistry and in the subfield of chromatography. The goal of this research activity is to determine the feasibility of developing an ultra-high speed chromatograph with which complex samples can be very rapidly analyzed. To accomplish this, open tubular chromatographic columns having inside diameters in the range of one to fifty micrometers will be examined to determine the optimal diameter that will enable preservation of separation efficiency while maximizing the speed of analysis. Deactivation, coating, and evaluation methods will be developed for use with these microbore capillary columns, and new sample introduction systems that are compatible with them will be developed. Finally, optimized, compatible detectors and associated fast-response electronics for use with these ultra-narrow-bore capillary columns will be developed and evaluated. The successful completion of this Phase I activity should demonstrate whether subsequent instrument development would lead to a gas chromatograph which would be capable of quantifying fifteen-to-twenty sample components per second. The availability of such an instrument would impact broadly in numerous scientific and technical areas and could, for the first time, make gas chromatography the method of choice for many applications which require immediate analytical data for process and quality control.
