Chromatography is the method for separating components from a mixture on the principle of the relative quantity of each element that is distributed between a moving fluid medium referred to as the mobile phase, and the immediate stationary phase. Chromatography is employed in the separation of various mixtures (Wixom and Charles, 103). It is used in the preparation of materials for purifying them.
Chromatography has several uses in biological and chemical worlds. Chromatography is broadly applied in biochemical research to identify and separate chemicals or biological origin. This method is applied in the petroleum industry to determine and analyze the complex mixture of the hydrocarbons.
Unlike other methods of separation such as distillation, decantation, extraction, et al., Chromatography can separate all the elements in a mixture without the need for an identity, number, or relative quantities of the components present. Chromatography is versatile; it deals with molecular species ranging from the size of viruses to the tiniest of all, hydrogen. The technique is applied to small or large quantities of the components. Some types of Chromatography identify elements present at attogram levels, making Chromatography an effective trace analytical method that is extensively applied in the identification of chlorinated pesticides in biology and environment. The method is used for the identification of therapeutically and narcotic drugs (Berezkin and Drugov, 302).
Chromatography is used in forensic testing. It is used in the analyses of blood or samples of cloths in scenes of crime, arson verification, or even blood testing after death to identify alcohol levels, drug and poisonous compounds in the body (Betina, 221). The accuracy and precision of Chromatography in drug testing enhance identification of substances in the bloodstream. It is useful in testing for doping in athletes.
In conclusion, Chromatography has a resolving power which is unequaled among other methods of separation.
Work cited
Betina, Vladimír. Chromatography of Mycotoxins: Techniques and Applications. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1993. Internet resource.
Berezkin, V G, and Drugov. U.S. Gas Chromatography in Air Pollution Analysis. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1991. Internet resource.
Wixom, Robert L, and Charles W. Gehrke. Chromatography: A Science of Discovery. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2010. Print.
