Non-Ionic Surfactant Triton X 100 by HPLC/ELSD

The non-ionic surfactant Triton X 100 was separated by HPLC/ELSD with the use of a low temperature adaptor (LTA).

Non-ionic Surfactant Triton X 100, Alltech Application Note 0026E, July 7, 2000.

To ensure the quality of commercial surfactant formulations, reliable techniques are needed to characterize components present in these products. HPLC is often used for this application. UV and refractive index (RI) detection methods generally don’t work well in detecting surfactants due to lack of sufficient chromophores or unstable baselines.

For these and other reasons, the evaporative light scattering detector can be used instead of UV or RI, since it detects any non-volatile analyte regardless of its optical properties. In ELSD, the mobile phase is first evaporated. Solid particles remaining from the sample are then carried in the form of a mist into a cell where they are detected by a laser.

Separation of the surfactant Triton X 100 was achieved by reversed phase gradient elution with water/methanol in around 15 minutes using an Adsorbosphere XL TMS C1, 5µm, 250 x 4.6mm column (Part No. 20628). Detection was by evaporative light scattering using an Alltech 500 ELSD (Evaporative Light Scattering Detector) with a Low Temperature Adaptor.