Complete Thermal Desorption
- Duration: 3.25 hours for on-demand
- Experience level: Intermediate
- Delivery methods: Offsite training & consultancy | On-Demand | Online | Onsite training & consultancy | Tailored training |
- Type of course: Universal
- Applicable to manufacturer(s): Agilent | Bruker | GERSTEL | GL Sciences | Leco | PerkinElmer | Sciex | Scion | Shimadzu | SRI | Thermo | Varian | Waters |
- CPD Approved: Approved
- Scheduled course price: £195.00 + TAX per delegate
- Course discounts: RSC CAMS HEaTED Cambridge Network members receive a discount on this course
Your complete guide to Thermal Desorption
Module 7 of the Complete Sample Preparation course.
This Complete Thermal Desorption training is approved by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for purposes of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Take an in-depth approach to thermal desorption, covering the principles of thermal extraction, adsorption and desorption mechanisms, sorbent selection, sampling techniques, tube conditioning, method development, instrumentation, water management, troubleshooting, and quantitative analysis. Gain a complete understanding of one of the most sensitive and versatile sample introduction techniques used in gas chromatography and GC-MS. This course combines theory with practical applications, helping analysts understand how to develop, optimise, and troubleshoot thermal desorption methods for a wide range of volatile and semi-volatile compounds.
This course can be combined with additional modules from the Complete Sample Preparation course to create a learning pathway tailored to your analytical applications and experience level.
Why should I join?
On completion of this training, you will have an overview of thermal desorption and its application across environmental, industrial, pharmaceutical, forensic, and research laboratories.
This thermal desorption course gives you:
- A clear understanding of the principles behind thermal desorption and thermal extraction
- How volatile and semi-volatile compounds are collected, concentrated, and transferred for analysis
- An understanding of adsorption and desorption processes and how they influence analytical performance
- Insight into sorbent selection, tube packing materials, and cold trap technologies
- Practical guidance on active, passive, diffusive, online, and direct thermal extraction sampling approaches
- Awareness of tube conditioning, validation, breakthrough testing, and quality control procedures
- An understanding of water management strategies and their importance in TD analysis
- A practical introduction to modern thermal desorption instrumentation and automation systems
- Insight into troubleshooting, maintenance, and performance optimisation.
- A solid foundation for progressing to advanced gas sampling and GC-MS method development activities
What would I learn?
This course focuses on providing a complete understanding of thermal desorption. You will learn:
- The principles of thermal desorption and how analytes are extracted using heat and inert carrier gas
- The differences between thermal desorption, pyrolysis, and headspace techniques
- How analytes are sampled onto sorbent tubes and transferred into GC and GC-MS systems
- The theory and practical application of active, passive, diffusive, and online sampling approaches
- How sorbent properties influence analyte retention, recovery, and breakthrough behaviour
- Practical approaches to tube conditioning, storage, validation, and performance testing
- How breakthrough volumes are determined and why they are critical for quantitative analysis
- The operation of cold traps, focusing traps, and two-stage thermal desorption systems
- Sample recollection techniques and split flow control strategies
- Water management approaches including dry purging, hydrophobic sorbents, Nafion dryers, and water abstraction technologies
- Quantitative calibration approaches and quality assurance procedures
- Common troubleshooting strategies for carryover, contamination, leaks, poor peak shape, breakthrough, and recovery issues
- Real-world applications across environmental monitoring, occupational hygiene, breath analysis, material emissions testing, flavour and fragrance analysis, forensics, and industrial process monitoring
What knowledge will I gain?
By the end of the course, you will:
- Be able to confidently define thermal desorption and explain the principles behind thermal extraction and analyte transfer
- Understand how analytes are collected onto sorbent tubes and released for chromatographic analysis
- Know how sorbent strength, hydrophobicity, operating temperature, and selectivity influence analytical performance
- Understand the importance of tube conditioning, storage, and handling for reliable analytical results
- Recognise how sampling strategy selection affects sensitivity, recovery, and quantitative accuracy
- Learn how active, passive, diffusive, breath, online, and thermal extraction sampling methods differ
- Become familiar with common sorbent materials and their suitability for different analyte volatility ranges
- Understand the role of cold traps and two-stage thermal desorption in achieving high sensitivity and narrow sample bands
- Learn how breakthrough testing is performed and how it supports method validation and reliability
- Gain confidence in developing, optimising, validating, and troubleshooting thermal desorption methods
- Understand common causes of carryover, contamination, leaks, poor desorption efficiency, and reduced recovery
- Gain an appreciation of how thermal desorption is applied across environmental monitoring, occupational hygiene, air quality assessment, material emissions testing, pharmaceuticals, forensics, flavour and fragrance analysis, and industrial testing applications
Is this course for me?
This RSC-approved, for purposes of CPD, training is designed for anyone who would like a complete understanding of thermal desorption and gas sampling techniques.
- Laboratory analysts and technicians performing gas sampling and volatile analysis
- Scientists developing analytical methods involving GC and GC-MS
- Laboratory managers overseeing analytical workflows and environmental monitoring activities
- Data analysts and report writers seeking a better understanding of sample collection and analytical data quality
- Service engineers supporting thermal desorption, chromatography, and mass spectrometry instrumentation
- Sales, commercial, and marketing teams working with analytical instrumentation, sampling devices, consumables, and laboratory technologies
- Researchers and scientists wanting a stronger understanding of thermal extraction science, sorbent technology, and analytical best practice
- Anyone involved in environmental, pharmaceutical, industrial, forensic, food, fragrance, air quality, or research laboratories where volatile and semi-volatile compounds are analysed
If thermal desorption is part of your laboratory, research, environmental, industrial, or product development work, this introductory course delivered by subject matter experts will provide a solid understanding in this analytical sample preparation technique.
