Lecture
Make chromatography greener: is less solvent the way forward?
- at -
- ICM Saal 3
- Type: Lecture
Lecture description
Analytical chemistry plays a key role in developing and managing greener processes in many fields, such as new energy storage solutions and sustainable synthetic routes in green chemistry. Without data provided by chromatographic techniques such as GC(–MS) or (U)HPLC–(MS), it is impossible to understand “hidden” chemical mechanisms—for example, electrolyte degradation in batteries or catalytic processes in electrolyzers—and achieving carbon neutrality would be unattainable.
However, these analytical instruments and methods also have their own environmental impact. Their manufacture requires critical resources such as polymers, rare earth elements, and significant amounts of energy. In daily laboratory use, they often consume organic solvents or gases as mobile phases and therefore generate effluents and waste that can be harmful to human health and the environment. Operating these instruments can also be energy intensive, and in many countries that energy is still produced largely from fossil fuels [1].
Instrument designers and manufacturers therefore share a responsibility to reduce the environmental footprint of analytical techniques. Using Shimadzu as an example, we will explore how instrument design and production can be carried out with sustainability as a central objective. While greener manufacturing is an important first step, it is not sufficient on its own: minimizing waste during routine use is also critical. We will discuss how innovations in Shimadzu’s instruments can drastically reduce solvent and gas consumption, making analytical workflows significantly “greener.”
Finally, the development of chromatographic approaches that operate with little or no organic solvent, such as supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and chromatography (SFC) is particularly promising for both sample preparation and analysis [2].
Literature:
[1] Gałuszka, A. et Al. « The 12 principles of green analytical chemistry and the SIGNIFICANCE mnemonic of green analytical practices.” TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Vol 50, p78-84, 2013.
[2] Takahashi, K. et al. “Environmental assessment of supercritical fluid chromatography in quality control laboratories.” Journal of Chromatography A 1625, 2020.
However, these analytical instruments and methods also have their own environmental impact. Their manufacture requires critical resources such as polymers, rare earth elements, and significant amounts of energy. In daily laboratory use, they often consume organic solvents or gases as mobile phases and therefore generate effluents and waste that can be harmful to human health and the environment. Operating these instruments can also be energy intensive, and in many countries that energy is still produced largely from fossil fuels [1].
Instrument designers and manufacturers therefore share a responsibility to reduce the environmental footprint of analytical techniques. Using Shimadzu as an example, we will explore how instrument design and production can be carried out with sustainability as a central objective. While greener manufacturing is an important first step, it is not sufficient on its own: minimizing waste during routine use is also critical. We will discuss how innovations in Shimadzu’s instruments can drastically reduce solvent and gas consumption, making analytical workflows significantly “greener.”
Finally, the development of chromatographic approaches that operate with little or no organic solvent, such as supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and chromatography (SFC) is particularly promising for both sample preparation and analysis [2].
Literature:
[1] Gałuszka, A. et Al. « The 12 principles of green analytical chemistry and the SIGNIFICANCE mnemonic of green analytical practices.” TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Vol 50, p78-84, 2013.
[2] Takahashi, K. et al. “Environmental assessment of supercritical fluid chromatography in quality control laboratories.” Journal of Chromatography A 1625, 2020.
