Development of a New Universal HPLC Detector: The Corona CAD

Recently, a new universal HPLC detection technology has been developed based on charged aerosol detection that has led to the development of a universal HPLC detector, the Corona CAD. To further understand the capabilities of charged aerosol detection and the use of the technology in an HPLC detector, the Corona CAD was tested for its sensitivity, dynamic range, response from compounds of different structures, and the instrument’s reproducibility characteristics. Sensitivity and dynamic range measurements of the Corona CAD were assessed by performing an analysis of a number of dilution series on various types of molecules (sugars, small molecules, etc.). The instrument response from various compounds was tested by injecting a series of compounds with widely divergent molecular structures in the Corona CAD at identical mass concentration. The reproducibility of the instrument was measured by repeat injections of identical samples. The Corona CAD was found to be able to consistently measure ng levels on column of various molecules. The Corona CAD also exhibited very consistent (within 15%) quadratic response for a variety of compounds regardless of their chemical structure, with at least 4 orders of magnitude dynamic range, while providing RSDs routinely less than 2%.