Development and Application of a Novel Multiloop Splitter-Based Non-cryogenic Artificial Trapping Modulation System in Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography

A multiloop splitter-based non-cryogenic artificial trapping (M-SNAT) modulation technique was established, which applied the first (¹D) nonpolar and the second (²D) polar columns, deactivated fused silica (DFS) columns, a microfluidic Deans switch (DS), and splitters located between the ¹D column outlet and the DS. The splitters were connected into multiple loops with a progressively doubled perimeter of the next loop. This enabled a duplex splitting mechanism within each loop consisting of splitting of analyte pulses, the pulse delay, and their combination which led to equally split peaks of the same analytes with the number of split peaks (n_split) equal to 2^m (m = number of loops). This system resulted in local profiles of artificially split-and-trapped analytes prior to their selective transfers onto the ²D column by means of periodic multiple heart-cuts (H/C). The developed SNAT approach can be successful, providing that the ratio of modulation period to sampling time (P_M/t_samp) is equal to n_split. The approach with n_split = 16 was further developed into a single device platform and applied for the modulation of a wide range of compounds in waste tire pyrolysis samples with the RSD of ≤0.01 and <10% for the one-dimensional modulated peak times and peak areas, respectively (n = 50). The method enabled an artificial modulation mechanism without cryogen consumption and enhanced the ²D peak capacity (²n_c) and ²D separation by use of a longer ²D column.