SAMPLE PREPARATION FOR ION CHROMATOGRAPHY BY SOLID-PHASE EXTRACTION

The most difficult part of many ion chromatographic (IC) applications is elimination of interfering components from the sample matrix. These interfering compounds may overload the column, contaminate or mask the peaks of interest or may be retained irreversibly on the packing. Some type of sample preparation is usually necessary to clean up samples prior to analysis. Sample preparation cartridges have been developed for IC using solid-phase extraction. These cartridges take part in specific, selective, solid-phase reactions with samples to eliminate interferences. Recovery of the ions after sample preparation was examined.