Design, testing and applications of an open-source cryogenic GC×GC modulator utilising 3D printed components

Analytical science underpins every single industry, product, and activity in a person’s life. The monitoring of the very air you breathe, ensuring it hasn’t been contaminated with toxic gases, and the food you eat relies on analytical chemistry. Gas chromatography and its more powerful variant, GC×GC, are pivotal techniques in this analytical effort. This thesis details the construction of a modulator – a device for transforming a GC instrument into GC×GC operation – based on 3D printing, and its testing. The thesis demonstrates its suitability to the fragrance industry and to atmospheric monitoring. The modulator design has been released as open source to allow researchers worldwide easy access to this powerful technique.