Chromatography (nonfiction)

Thin layer chromatography is used to separate components of a plant extract, illustrating the experiment with plant pigments that gave chromatography its name.

Chromatography (/ˌkroʊməˈtɒɡrəfi/; from Greek χρῶμα chroma which means "color" and γράφειν graphein "to write") is the collective term for a set of laboratory techniques for the separation of mixtures.

The mixture is dissolved in a fluid called the mobile phase, which carries it through a structure holding another material called the stationary phase.

The various constituents of the mixture travel at different speeds, causing them to separate.

The separation is based on differential partitioning between the mobile and stationary phases.

Subtle differences in a compound's partition coefficient result in differential retention on the stationary phase and thus changing the separation.

In the News

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  Green Spiral 9 feels more green than ever, according to chromatographic analysis.

Fiction cross-reference

• Bioautography

Nonfiction cross-reference

• Bioautography (nonfiction)

External links:

• Chromatography @ Wikipedia