Developments in the application of gas chromatography with atomic emission (plus mass spectrometric) detection

Capillary gas chromatography with atomic emission detection is a highly element-selective and sensitive detection technique for many nonmetal as well as metallic elements. A 3-5 order of magnitude element/carbon selectivity, compound-independent calibration and the possibility to calculate (partial) molecular formulae are some of the attractive features of the technique. In the present review, the emphasis is on real-life applications for non-metals such as sulphur, phosphor-us, nitrogen and the halogens, and on the potential of combined atomic emission/mass spectrometric detection. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.