Chromatography, gas (GC)

A type of automated chromatography (a technique used to separate mixtures of substances) in which the mixture to be analyzed is vaporized and carried by an inert gas through a special column and thence to a detection device.

The special column can contain an inert porous solid (in gas-solid chromatography) or a liquid coated on a solid support (in gas-liquid chromatography).

The basic aim with GC is to separate each component that was in the mixture so that it produces a different peak in the detection device output which is graphed on a chart recorder.

GC is a valuable tool in biochemistry (and other fields of chemistry, as in the analysis of perfumes)