Ion chromatography

Physical analytical method to separate dissolved ions, abbreviated as IC. The ions are separated based on ionic (coulombic) interaction between the analyte and the ionic functions of the stationary phase. The technique can be uswed for the separation of small inorganic and larger organic ions such as peptides, proteins. There exist cation and anion exchange chromatography using stationary phases which retain cations and anions, respectively. Usually UV-Vis detection is used. This technique is applied for determination of cations and anions in water (surface and subsurface as well as waste water) samples and in aqueous soil extracts. Comparing to capillary electrophoresis ion chromatography has higher sensitivity, but higher sample and time demand. It needs different coloumn packings for the analysis of cations and anions while in the capillary electrophoresis the two runs can be performed with the same capillary by changing the polarity of the electric field. The sample preparation is similarly simple (filtration).