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Monday, August 16, 2021

Difference between isocratic and gradient HPLC system

The major difference between isocratic and gradient systems is that the isocratic elution uses a single mobile phase composition having the same polarity, whereas the gradient elution uses more than one mobile phase and it can gradually increase or decreases the polarity of the mobile throughout the process of separation.

HPLC is an analytical technique for separating, identifying, and quantifying sample mixtures. It is one of the most powerful tools in analytical chemistry since it has significant advantages and applications. HPLC is a highly advanced type of column chromatography in which is used in high pressure up to 4000 PSI.

A pump drives a solvent through a column, column packing material is also known as adsorbent or stationary phase is a granular material typically composed of solid particles such as silica or polymers. The sample is injected through an injector and the separated compounds are detected through a detector (UV or PDA), the signal is converted and we can see the peak.

Table of Contents
  1. What is isocratic elution?
  2. What is gradient elution?
  3. Difference between isocratic and gradient elution

HPLC chromatography is classified into several types based on the separation principle, type of analysis, chromatographic modes, the scale of operation, and elution mode. Mainly four types of HPLC are used, depending on the stationary phase in the method: reversed-phase, normal phase, size-exclusion, and ion-exchange.

What is isocratic elution?

In chromatography, isocratic elution refers to when the mobile phase has a constant concentration as well as constant composition, polarity, and pH throughout the separation of the analyte. In this method, the peak width in the chromatogram increases linearly with the retention time (Rt). However, it has some limitations such as the late-eluting peaks become relatively flat and broad. As a result, these broad peaks are difficult to identify as peaks.

Furthermore, the selectivity of the isocratic mode does not change according to the dimensions of the HPLC column. This indicates that the selectivity does not depend on the change in dimensions of the column. The diameter and length of the column are considered as column dimensions. As a result, the peaks elute in the same sequence.

What is gradient elution?

In chromatography, gradient elution refers to when the mobile phase concentration varies. The composition of the mobile phase in the gradient system varies throughout the chromatographic run and therefore affects the retention of the analyte. Because of their wide retention factor or capacity factor (k), compounds that cannot be easily separated by isocratic methods should be separated using a gradient method.

It is worked by using a gradient pump, in which the eluent strength increases throughout separation by changing the mobile phase composition. Therefore the analysis time is reduced, the separation quality is increased, and the detection limit is increased.

Difference between isocratic and gradient elution:

  • In chromatography, isocratic elution refers to when the mobile phase has a constant concentration, whereas gradient elution refers to when the mobile phase concentration varies.
  • The isocratic mode of HPLC flows a constant concentration of the mobile phase, whereas the gradient mode of HPLC flows a varying concentration of the mobile phase.
  • In isocratic elution, selectivity does not depend on the dimension of the column, whereas in gradient elution,  the selectivity changes with changing column dimensions.
  • In isocratic elution peaks become relatively flat and broad, whereas in gradient elution peaks become relatively narrow.
  • Peaks in isocratic elution have more tailing, fronting, and broadness than gradient, whereas peaks of gradient elution provide a sharp symmetrical shape (Gaussian peak) with sufficient resolution than isocratic.

There are two different ways by which we can run the HPLC method namely isocratic elution and gradient elution. In isocratic elution, a mixture of mobile phase or a solvent system is used to separate the sample components and it is consistent over the complete testing time. There are no changes in the mobile phase composition that can be made between the entire run of the isocratic system.

The composition of the mobile phase in the gradient system varies throughout the chromatographic run and therefore affects the retention of the analysis. Separation in gradient mode can be either accelerated or decelerated. In the gradient system, the composition of the mobile phase should be changed concerning time so it is a flow gradient if the mobile phase ratio is not changed throughout the process of analytes separation then it is considered as isocratic elution.


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