Best Things Come in Small Packages-Ion Chromatograph for Water Quality Analysis

Ion chromatography is a powerful and sensitive tool for analysis of anions and cations in water and waste water.

Many countries and regions specify standard values for general inorganic anions such as fluoride, chloride, nitrate, nitrite, and sulfate ions in order to minimize the potential health effects of environmental and drinking water. The ion chromatograph is the instrument of choice for high-sensitivity measurement of ionic contents in solutions and therefore quality analysis of environmental and drinking water or waste water monitoring.

Shimadzu’s HIC-ESP ion chromatograph features the same low carry-over and excellent injection precision characteristics of Shimadzu HPLCs to ensure highly reliable results in quantitative ion analysis. The newly developed, low-volume anion suppressor minimizes band spreading to achieve the highest sensitivity, providing stable functionality even over long periods of use, while the system’s small footprint offers more efficient use of laboratory bench space.

The HIC-ESP modular inert flow path system integrates a system controller, degasser, pump, CDD detector with temperature controlled flow cell, autosampler, slim-line oven and the anion suppressor. This ion chromatography system combines a number of valuable features providing highly-reliable analytical results: Excellent solvent delivery performance, low carryover, fast injection speed (as low as 10 sec), high sample injection precision and repeatability, precise oven temperature regulation and more.

The patented ICDS-40A anion suppressor is located between the IC column and the detector. The unit features a low-volume design combined with a multi-layered structure. With a folded membrane, it provides highly efficient electrodialytic background suppression and increased stability. The unique design reduces peak spreading, increasing sensitivity for components with low retention such as fluoride, and improves separation from the water dip.

The ICDS-40A allows for analysis as well as self-regeneration simultaneously, shortening analysis cycle time and maximizing workflow efficiency. Because the anion suppressor uses effluent from the detector as regenerant, it eliminates the need for cumbersome offline regeneration with environmentally unfriendly solutions such as sulfuric acid.

In addition, the user-friendly ion chromatography system integrates seamlessly with Shimadzu’s LabSolutions platform. This allows users to easily manage parameter setting for IC analysis, batch analyses, auto-shutdown, data processing and report creation. Data integrity is assured with the addition of LabSolutions DB and LabSolutions CS.

To learn more about water analysis using the HIC-ESP ion chromatograph visit our website.