A high-speed, high-performance, microfabricated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatograph.

A small, consumable-free, low-power, ultra-high-speed comprehensive GC×GC system consisting of microfabricated columns, nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) cantilever resonators for detection, and a valve-based stop-flow modulator is demonstrated. The separation of a highly polar 29-component mixture covering a boiling point range of 46 to 253 °C on a pair of microfabricated columns using a Staiger valve manifold in less than 7 seconds, and just over 4 seconds after the ensemble holdup time is demonstrated with a downstream FID. The analysis time of the second dimension was 160 ms, and peak widths in the second dimension range from 10-60 ms.