Gas Chromatography and Ion Mobility Spectrometry: A Perfect Match?

Abstract

Over the past few decades, their outstanding sensitivity and quick response times have allowed ion mobility spectrometers (IMS) to become increasingly popular detectors for gas chromatographs (GC). In this manuscript, we discuss the basic operating principle of IMS, its resulting strengths and weaknesses, and why both perfectly align with the capabilities and requirements of gas chromatographs. This is combined with basic advice for setting up GC-IMS couplings and an outlook on some future developments.