Continuous flow apparatus and method for interfacing liquid chromatograph and fourier transform infrared spectrometer

Abstract

Apparatus for interfacing a liquid chromatograph (LC) with a spectrometer such as a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, the LC having an eluant, the eluant containing a solvent and a component of interest. The apparatus includes five basic parts. The first is a means for generating a stream of droplets of the eluant, such as a nebulizer. The second is a means for removing most of the solvent from the stream of droplets of the eluant to thereby generate a stream of particles, the particles containing the component of interest and any residual solvent, such as a membrane solvent separator/momentum separator combination. The third is a cryogenic receiving surface, such as a gold drum. The forth is a means for focusing the stream of particles onto the cryogenic receiving surface so that the particles adhere to the cryogenic receiving surface, such as a one and two-tenths millimeter inside diameter stainless steel tube positioned with a gap between the distal end of the tube and the cryogenic receiving surface of one-quarter millimeter. The fifth is a means for controlling the temperature of the cryogenic receiving surface, such as a helium refrigerator. In operation, the cryogenic receiving surface is maintained at a temperature effective to cause the particles to adhere to the cryogenic receiving surface to form a region of adhered particles, such as a temperature of between seventy and one hundred and five degrees Kelvin, the cryogenic receiving surface being maintained in a partial vacuum. Then, the cryogenic receiving surface is warmed, e.g., to between one hundred and five and two hundred degrees Kelvin, to volatilize essentially all of any remaining solvent from the region of adhered particles prior to spectroscopic analysis of the region of adhered particles.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.