When one thinks of comprehensive GC (GCxGC) systems, Zoex is likely one of the first companies that comes to mind. The Texas-based company was established in 1993 as a result of the work of Edward B. Ledford, Jr., Zoex’s founder, with the inventor of GCxGC, John B. Phillips. Zoex is a premier provider of GC x GC technology, both through direct sales, as well as OEM and licensing agreements with GC manufacturers. GCxGC is a technique in which a sample is run through two chromatography columns to achieve a two-dimensional separation. The technique achieves orders of magnitude more resolved peaks than traditional GC, allowing for clearer characterization of complex mixtures with overlapping peaks.

Zoex was the first company to commercialize GCxGC technology, according to Lawrence Mantegula, Zoex’s vice president. “Zoex does not manufacture GCs,” he explained. “As such we have employed partners as vehicles to get to market.” Zoex has licensed its technology to Agilent, LECO, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Dow Chemical, among others. The company sells 30% of its products directly and 70% through OEM agreements and distribution partners.

Zoex develops modulation systems for the proper transfer of samples between two columns, and software for GCxGC, both of which can be installed in conventional GC systems. The company’s most popular modulator is the ZX1 Liquid Nitrogen Thermal Modulator. “Most laboratories using GCxGC are involved in research work or work with a wide variety of samples. The Liquid Nitrogen Thermal Modulation system provides the lowest practical temperature for thermal modulation, hence modulates the widest range of organic compounds,” said Mr. Mantegula.

In order to expand the use of GCxGC in markets outside of the petroleum industry, the main market for GCxGC, in March, Zoex released the FasTOF TOF-MS detector (see IBO 3/15/10), which can be coupled with GCxGC systems. TOF-MS detectors add a mass-to-charge ratio dimension when used with GCxGC. The higher specificity and greater sensitivity of GCxGC systems with TOF-MS detectors allow them to perform better separations of complex matrices. According to Mr. Mantegula, Zoex is targeting sales of the FasTOF to the metabolomics and environmental forensics (the study of environmental contamination) markets.

In the future, Mr. Mantegula expects changes to current regulatory methods to benefit sales of GCxGC systems. “Various standards organizations including ASTM and ISO are in the process of adopting analytical methods for their industries based on GCxGC. Both hardware and software tools have reached maturity and are now ready for routine use in testing laboratories,” he said. For example, the ASTM is developing a method for the analysis of synthetic parrafinic kerosene fuels using GCxGC. “We expect tremendous growth in the next five years as these applications become required by industry standards,” he said. “Regulatory changes are also putting pressure on legacy testing methods that do not provide the level of specificity that GCxGC does.”