Analytical Chemistry

Chromatography and its Mechanism

Chromatography is a technique used for the separation of mixtures. The mixture is dissolved in a fluid is called the mobile phase, which moves it through a system on which is fixed a material called the stationary phase. Chromatographic techniques are based on four different sorption mechanisms, surface adsorption, partition, ion exchange and size exclusion. The separation mechanism depends upon variance in polarity between the different feed components. Almost any polar solid can be employed as a polar stationary phase.