Physicochemical and Analytical Aspects of the Adsorption Phenomena Involved in GLC

One of the most spectacular breakthroughs at the turn of this century was the discovery of the chromatographic method of analysis of complex mixtures by the Russian scientist M. S. Tswett. The basic principles of chromatography were developed by Tswett and his investigations of a chlorophyll pigment present in the green leaves of plants [ 1 ]. Like many other prominent scientists, Tswett was fully aware of the great importance of this technique in scientific re -search. He wrote, “A prerequisite for any fruitful research is availability of a workable method. It has been said that any advance in science boils down to an advance in methodology. Unfortunately, methodology is often the weakest link in research. Every generation tends to take for granted the techniques developed by its predecessors, without any critical assessment, being quite content that they are “universally adopted,” and use them to obtain new results which gain wide acceptance among contemporaries but later may often become obsolete” [ 1 ].