Gas chromatographic separation of hydrogen isotopes on columns packed with alumina, modified alumina and sol–gel alumina

The stationary phase of alumina adsorbents, prepared by different chemical processes, was used to study the separation behaviour of hydrogen isotopes. Three types of alumina, obtained by conventional hydroxide route alumina coated with silicon oxide and alumina prepared by internal gelation process (IGP), were used as packing material to study the separation of HT and T2 in a mixture at various temperatures. The conventional alumina and silicon oxide coated alumina resolved HT and T2 at 77 K temperature with different retention times. The retention times on SiO2 coated columns were found to be higher than those of other adsorbents. However, the column filled with IGP alumina was found to be ideal for the separation of HT and T2 at 240 K. The peaks were well resolved in less than 5 min on this column.