Increase sensitivity and reduce background with Merck’s SeQuant™ ion chromatography suppression system

Determination of anions using ion chromatography (IC) just got easier using Merck’s SeQuant™ Continuous Anion Regeneration System (CARS™) together with the SeQuant™ Anion Membrane Suppressor (SAMS™). The system is easy to use and offers exceptional background conductivity suppression, thereby enhancing your results.

 

Schematic diagram of the installation of CARS™ and SAMS™ in an ion chromatography system.

The CARS™ system with a SAMS™ suppressor is designed for optimized eluent suppression, regardless of flow rate and composition of the mobile phase. This enables that the lowest possible background conductivity level and highest possible analyte sensitivity is always reached, no matter what the application is.

The CARS™ system can successfully be used for standard routine operation in analysis of common anions such as fluoride, chloride, bromide, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, iodide, etc. Due to its very high capacity and the continuous rapid regeneration of the SAMS™ suppressor, the system is also suitable for high ion-strength eluents and gradient elution required for more challenging anion analyses. The robust and flexible design makes it simple to integrate CARS™ and SAMS™ with any ion chromatography system, and the chromatogram below shows an example of this.

 

Chromatogram from isocratic separation of inorganic anions using CARS™ with SAMS™ for suppression of the background conductivity. Eluent; 1.7 mM NaHCO₃ / 1.8 mM Na₂CO₃ pumped at 1 mL/min. Sample, 1-30 ppm of each anion in water.

SAMS™ is a membrane suppressor which selectively exchanges cations in the anion chromatography eluent for protons, thereby neutralizing the eluent to their corresponding low conducting acids (carbonic acid, water), and converting analyte anions to their corresponding high-conductivity strong acids (e.g., hydrochloric acid). The CARS™ system is designed to provide optimum performance of SAMS™ by providing a continuous and stable availability of protons for the membrane cation exchange process.

The CARS™ system consists of a pump, a regeneration cartridge and a continuously circulating regeneration liquid. The CARS™ regeneration cartridge contains an ultra-pure cation exchanger and constitutes a high-capacity source of protons for long-term continuous regeneration of the SAMS™ suppressor. The extreme capacity of the regeneration cartridge warrants a stable performance for months of unattended operation. Inside the CARS™ system is the ULB™-P regeneration solution circulating. ULB™-P is an ultra-pure liquid cation exchanger (high molecular weight organic acid) which acts as a shuttle, carrying protons from the cartridge to the SAMS™ suppressor and returns with the former eluent cations for deposition in the cartridge.

The combination of CARS™ and SAMS™ delivers stable suppression performance with exceptionally low and quite background conductivity with extreme capacity for practically any type of anion chromatography application and instrumentation.

More information on CARS™ and SAMS™ can be found in the brochure, “Everything runs smoothly…” Download your copy today.

In the tutorial, “A Practical Guide to Ion Chromatography”, you’ll find a comprehensive discussion of ion chromatography including strategies for optimizing eluents, example applications and a troubleshooting guide for anion chromatography separation systems.

The SeQuant CARS Manual contains detailed instructions for using CARS™ and SAMS™ products.