GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY OF TITANS ATMOSPHERE .6. ANALYSIS OF LOW-MOLECULAR-MASS HYDROCARBONS AND NITRILES WITH BPX5 CAPILLARY COLUMNS

Wall-coated open-tubular capillary columns (0.15 mm I.D., 12 and 25 m long with a 0.25-mu m film thickness and 12 m long with a 2-mu m film thickness with a chemically bonded stationary phase (5% phenyl-95% dimethylpolysiloxane) were used for the gas chromatographic analysis of various mixtures of low-molecular-mass saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons and nitriles. Retention indices are given for these solutes at 30 degrees C. Van Deemter curves were also plotted for propionitrile, n-hexane and benzene at 30 degrees C for both film thicknesses. Both columns proved efficient and yielded good resolution. The analysis of the experimental band broadening on the basis of Golay's equation indicates the important role of the instrumental contribution to band broadening for columns with thin films of stationary phase.