Reversed-Flow Gas Chromatography (RF-GC) is a relatively new technique to determine the physicochemical properties of solute. So far, RF-GC has been used to determine the diffusion coefficient of various solvents. However, the used of RF-GC in other applications such as environmental studies have not been reported. In this study, RF-GC which is a part of flow-perturbation gas chromatography was used to investigate the rate of evaporation of methanol in the presence surfactant (Triton X-100). Waste methanol is considered as an ignitable hazardous waste by US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) when its concentrations is equal to or greater than 24% in water. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Triton X-100 as non-ionic surfactant to suppress evaporation rate of methanol. The result of this study indicated that the evaporation rate of methanol was found to be retarded by the presence of Triton X-100. The percentage of retardation was found to increase with increasing concentration of Triton X-100.

1. The Influence of Triton-Xon the Evaporation Rate of Methanol-
An analysis using Reversed-Flow Gas Chromatography (RF-GC)
Methodologies
H.H. Mohammad1,*
, Khalisanni Khalid1,2
, KhengSoo Tay1
, Sharifuddin Md. Zain1
,
Rashid Atta Khan1
1
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya,
50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2
Food and Agricultural Analysis Laboratory Program, Technical Service Centre,
Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI),
43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
*Corresponding author: enal_fifi@yahoo.com
Abstract
Reversed-Flow Gas Chromatography (RF-GC) is a relatively new technique to determine the
physicochemical properties of solute. So far, RF-GC has been used to determine the diffusion
coefficient of various solvents. However, the used of RF-GC in other applications such as
environmental studies have not been reported. In this study, RF-GC which is a part of flow-
perturbation gas chromatography was used to investigate the rate of evaporation of methanol
in the presence surfactant (Triton X-100). Waste methanol is considered as an ignitable
hazardous waste by US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) when its concentrations
is equal to or greater than 24% in water. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of
Triton X-100 as non-ionic surfactant to suppress evaporation rate of methanol.The result of
this study indicated that the evaporation rate of methanol was found to be retardedby the
presence of Triton X-100. The percentage of retardation was found to increase with
increasing concentration of Triton X-100.
.
Keywords: evaporation rate, diffusion rate, Reversed-Flow Gas Chromatography (RF-GC)