Use of Portable Capillary Liquid Chromatography for Common Educational Demonstrations Involving Separations

High-performance liquid chromatography is one of the primary techniques covered in the undergraduate analytical chemistry curriculum. This technology report describes the use of a portable capillary-scale instrument that can provide similar performance to a benchtop instrument but generates less solvent waste and enables operation in nonlaboratory settings. Comparisons between the two instrument types were made for single-standard calibration analysis of caffeine in diet soda and aspirin content in over-the-counter tablets, with relative percent differences between the standards and samples under 5% for both instrument types and both samples. The capability to use the instrument in lecture and outreach demonstration activities was also explored. Portable instruments can serve similar pedagogical purposes to traditional instruments as well as provide a platform to introduce discussions on green analytical chemistry based on differences in solvent waste generation and power consumption.