Chromatography is a heavily used technique in chemistry that allows the separation of various components of a mixture. This helps the person to analyze different components and base his results on them. The process is based on the principle of allowing differential movement of substances in different stationary and mobile phases. The stationary phase allows for solid or liquid to immobilize on a solid support while the mobile phase allows for the liquid or the gas to be carried through the secondary phase.
The use of chromatography is done in various fields like forensics, drug analysis, and also at times in environmental monitoring for its accurate depiction and result analyzing skills. The innovation of chromatography has made tasks much easier than the previous times where lethargic processes needed to be followed to find the results and separation of components.
We here today look at how it has become beneficial to us in forms of its advantages whilst also depicting a few lacking or disadvantages of it down below. Read along.
Advantages of Chromatography
1. Simple and easy to use
Chromatography is one of the simplest methods invented in the chemistry field for the separation of the components of a mixture. This has allowed a quick and hassle-free approach when conducting analysis and research on various mixtures and finding out the results. With chromatography, the past year’s tedious process could be bid adieu and a simpler approach can be taken for it.
2. Can be handled by a single person
The use of chromatography doesn’t require a large personnel team and can be done by a single trained person on his own. This reduces the need for a large team to do the task and brings down the cost of operation by a large margin. This is why it’s an important part of forensics and drug analysis as research teams can function the chromatography use via a single person doing the task.
3. Excellent separation and purification
Chromatography provides excellent separation of materials and components for complex mixtures. It also allows for purification capabilities that help in analyzing the components better and derive a formulated answer to it. This helps the forensic and drug analyzing team to provide an accurate description of the compounds in the mixture and provide substantial evidence to the investigating team.
4. Versatile in Nature
Chromatography is widely used due to its versatile nature as it helps in separating a variety of complex compounds with ease. Other mechanisms and types of compound separation methods cannot provide as much versatility as chromatography does. This makes it the top choice for alchemists working in the field of compound separation. Even the smallest sample like gram, ppm, or ng/ml can be detected with ease via chromatography.
5. Continued Operational Usage
When compared to other types of chemical compound separation methods, chromatography allows for a longer and continued operational cycle without any disruption. It can also be tested on a large scale without any chances of disruption. This compounded with its excellent separation functioning and ability to provide rapid and precise results makes chromatography a top preference.
6. Wide Variety of Options
Chromatography comes in various types and options that can used to test multiple types of compounds and mixtures. It has liquid chromatography for liquid-based operations, and gas chromatography for gas-based operations. Furthermore, it also has high-performance liquid chromatography, solid chromatography, solid-liquid chromatography, column, and thin layer chromatography available for various tests as per the need.
Disadvantages of Chromatography
1. Need for trained professional
Since chromatography uses quite a lot of technical procedures, it requires trained personnel in hand to operate and conduct the tests. Any untrained personnel won’t be able to operate and provide the required results. This is why the task is only conducted by a trained member of the forensic or drug analysis team. That can at times be detrimental if there are no required skilled persons at the time of need which can affect the entire investigation process.
2. Need for multiple steps
This may sound a little different as chromatography is often reckoned as a simpler and easier way of separating the compounds. However, the proper conduct of chromatography is simple and goes through multiple steps to derive the results. It’s not as easy as just throwing the compounds in a tube and getting the results. This makes it difficult for beginners who are new in the chromatography field.
3. Result interpretation can be complex
One thing that we’ve understood is how vital chromatography is for forensics and drug analysis and how it takes a skilled alchemist to do the activity in the right manner. The accurate depiction of the results is very important as it is the base for various tasks and investigations ahead. As such, it has been seen that at times, the accurate interpretation of the results and the data can be complex and subjective giving a completely different scope to the compound mixture.
4. Expensive
Chromatography system is much more expensive world and difficult when compared to other types of chemical separation methods. This makes it a little over budget for small research teams and investigation teams. Also, the overall running and maintenance of the system requires a dedicated approach which again can be expensive for the management.
Final Words
Chromatography is a widely used chemical separation method for various processes like forensics, drug analysis, and another chemical research. It has been one of the go-to approaches when it comes to studying various compound mixtures. It has many advantages as aforementioned but also possesses some disadvantages and we hope this article can help articulate both sides clearly.
