What are Evaporative Light-Scattering Detectors?
Evaporative Light-Scattering Detectors (ELSDs) are used to facilitate High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).
Refractive Index (RI) Detectors are also used for HPLC but with less success as they are easily affected by changes in ambient temperature, and cannot always detect target substances with short elution times. ELSDs, which have been growing in popularity since the 1980s, solve these problems and do not require time for the instrument and baseline to stabilize.
Evaporative Light-Scattering Detectors
ELSDs are aerosol-based HPLC detectors which work by converting the eluents of target components (carried by an inert carrier gas such as Nitrogen) to a fine spray via a nebulizer. This spray is then heated so that only the mobile phase evaporates. Light is then focused on the remaining target substance and scattered light is detected. The primary advantage for researchers using ELSD is that, unlike spectroscopic detectors, it can identify samples which cannot be found using UV detection methods such as carbohydrates, sugar alcohols surfactants and natural synthetic molecules.
There are many applications for ELSD as it is one of the most universal detectors available for HPLC. It is commonly used for carbohydrate, lipid and polymer analysis but can also be used in a variety of other applications. ELSD is an ideal detector for drug discovery, combinatorial chemistry, and the analysis of natural substances.
An ELSD requires a supply of clean, dry (preferably inert) gas and the Solaris Nitrogen generator meets this need. The Solaris Nitrogen generator provides a gas solution for ELSD which can help labs who are optimizing ELSD and their lab analysis in general. Solaris is a dedicated solution which offers the nitrogen gas flow and purity required for ELSD whilst removing the inconvenience, hassle and safety concerns which are inherent with cylinder gas supply.
The Solaris Nitrogen Generator and Solaris Air Compressor
Sources
http://www.usedhplc.co.uk/UsedHPLC-IntroductiontoEvaporativeLightScatteringDetectorsELSD.htm
http://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/achieving-precision-analysis-with-elsd/2554?kwrd=Shimadzu%20Scientific%20Instruments