Second dimension temperature programming system for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with true temperature control

A proof-of-concept second dimension (2 2 D) temperature programming system for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) with true temperature control is introduced and its performance characterized. The 2 D temperature programming system utilized a commercial stainless-steel capillary column that was resistively heated and controlled using an Arduino UNO microcontroller. Temperature measurement was accomplished using a differential thermocouple system attached to the 2 D column. Diesel was injected in triplicate to compare the reproducibility of the GC x GC system without additional 2 D heating, with 2 D temperature programming, and with a constant offset, all accomplished using the 2 D temperature programming system. Relative standard deviations for the 2 D temperature programming were 0.02%, 0.49% and 1.2% for the first dimension (1 1 D) retention time, 2 D retention time, and peak area, respectively. The estimated 2 D peak capacity improved by 48% with 2 D temperature programming compared to the separation without additional 2 D heating.