Chromatograms should reflect the separation of analyte peaks as accurately as possible. Baseline anomalies not only affect data presentation, but can also lead to problems with identification and quantitation of analytes.
Baseline problems include noise, wandering, drift, ghost peaks, and negative peaks. These symptoms can have both mechanical and chemical origins. This article highlights some tips that you can apply in your lab to reduce or remove these anomalies. The tips are organized by root cause:
• UV detector – flow cell and lamp
• Pump, mobile phase, and mixer
• Column and column temperature
The article also describes how the latest HPLC technology eliminates sources of baseline artifacts, or makes it easier to diagnose and fix them.
