You should use a PLOT colum with Porapak Q (also other Porapak stat. phases can be used). Use the MS in SIM mode. A TCD or NPD detectors also can be used.

Regards

G

You need to having gas sampling unit and detector such as TCD, ECD, NPD or Mass will work for GC analysis. You have to use the PLOT columns as they are ideal for separating compounds that are gases.

As previous respondents have mentioned already, GC analysis of permanent gases requires PoraPLOT or PoraBOND columns. Columns of the PoraPLOT type are sensitive to sharp increase in carrier gas pressure and therefore have to be handled with care (porous stationary phase bed can get compacted or disrupted with fine particles exiting the column). PoraBOND type columns are a bit more robust.

PoraPLOT Q / PoraBOND Q is quite a versatile stationary phase but may not yield a clean NO peak (depending on complexity of your samples). You might have better chances with a Molsieve-5Å column or a CarboBOND (or CarboPLOT P7) column.

Remember that Molsieve 5A is sensitive to moisture. Also other compounds like CO2 need to be eluted a large increase of the temperature.

Carbon based molecular sieves are ok for this purpose.

regards,

G

Good point about Molsieve 5Å (though Molsieve 3Å is much more efficient at trapping water). Anyhow, Agilent who now sell CP-Molsieve 5Å columns have improved on Chrompack's (CP's) original phase. While Agilent's proprietary deactived phase may still absorb water (moisture) over time, it can be rapidly regenerated by a 7 hours bake-out at 200°C.

See PDF brochure available from:

http://www.chromtech.com/cp-molsieve-5a

That being said, should (gas) samples contain a lot of moisture (water) a CarboPLOT or CarboBOND column may be a better choice since thei retention stability is not adversely affected by water.

You need an ECD detector to detect N2O at ambient levels ( 300ppb ).

Its a simple analysis on either a 2meter packed Haysep D column or the equivilent 30meter capillary PLOT. The packed column is more robust and costs 1/3 the price. SRI Instruments makes a N2O+CH4+CO2 GC called a "Greenhouse Gas GC " which includes a ECD and FIDmethanizer detectors plus the sampling valve for about US$20k. www.srigc.com

http://www.srigc.com/home/product_detail/greenhouse-gas-monitoring-gc

Yes. Both methods can be used to measure nitrous oxide. For GC see https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/technical-documents/articles/analytical-applications/gc/gc-analysis-of-nitrogen-and-nitrous-oxide-g001081.html

To measure it by GC / MS you must use He as carrier gas and set the minimum mass detected in the equipment at 10 amu.

In addition to Mario's answer - as a carrier gas for GC-MS the H2 can be used as well.

Porous polymer based PLOT column with MS detector can be used to analyse N2O. As recommended by all colleagues, ECD, NPD & MS detectors offer much better sensitivity as compared to TCD.

Dear Vinayak,

thank you for this great summary.

Your activity is highly appreciated.

regards,

G

Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) can be analyzed using GC or GCMS. You can use a Plot column like the Rt Q-BOND. In GC analysis, N2O can be detected at good level of sensitivity using an ECD. Other option is using a GCMS. If the concentration is very low, you can use NCI mode of ionization.

How is it possible to increase the purity of N2O?