Glycol solutions act as antifreeze agents and are often used as such in motor vehicles. Due to the toxicity of (mono)ethylene glycol (MEG), use is being increasingly expanded to the non-toxic propylene glycol. This Application Note presents the separation and quantification of the two glycols. Separation is performed on the Metrosep Carb 2 - 250/4.0 column. Due to the absence of chromophores and the low conductivity of the glycols, pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) is used to facilitate determination.
Key words: ethanediol, propanediol