Absolute Basics of IC
- Duration: 1 day for live courses 6.50 hours for on-demand
- Experience level: Beginners
- Delivery methods: Face-to-face | Offsite training & consultancy | On-Demand | Online | Onsite training & consultancy | Tailored training |
- Type of course: Universal
- Applicable to manufacturer(s): Agilent |
- CPD Approved: Approved
- Scheduled course price: £385.00 + TAX per delegate
- Course discounts: RSC CAMS HEaTED Cambridge Network TSN members receive a discount on this course
Your beginner’s guide to ion chromatography (IC)
Learn the fundamentals of ion chromatography (IC), with this 1-day classroom-based beginners course for professionals and students that is approved by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for Continuing Professional Development (CPD). This introductory, analytical chemistry course will cover the what, how, why, where and when of IC and will take you through from the basics. Learn what IC is and how it works, the range of techniques that are available in IC, including ion exchange and high-performance anion exchange chromatography. Improve your understanding further with the opportunity to handle (see, in virtual courses) IC instrument parts and consumables such as a detector lamp and IC analytical columns.
Whether you are stepping into the world of IC for the first time, or looking to refresh your technical expertise, this essential training gives you the knowledge to understand and use IC as an analytical tool for the separation and measurement of charged particles (ions), within a liquid. This course breaks complex IC instrumentation and techniques into easy-to-understand concepts, helping you to build skills that you can use in the lab.
Why should I join?
On completion, you will be able to understand what defines IC, its typical applications and uses in industries such as water analysis and environmental monitoring, as well as the basic sample preparation for IC and the fundamental chemical concepts behind the technique.
This IC training course gives you:
- A solid understanding of IC and the ion separation process
- Clear explanation of IC instrumentation and the data it provides
- Insights into different IC techniques including ion pair chromatography (IPC) and ion suppression chromatography (ISC)
- Familiarity with IC terminology such as the stationary and mobile phase, strong and weak ion exchange, and gradient/isocratic elution
- Knowledge of IC components such as analytical columns and various detectors
- Awareness of basic sample preparation for IC
- Understanding an IC chromatogram, the information it can provide and basic data analysis
- Real-world exercises of applications across many different industries
- A great summary of IC aided with an acronym glossary
This is your opportunity to understand IC, and how it can be used in many different analytical labs.
What would I learn?
A beginner‑friendly introductory course, focusing on the what, how, why, where and when of IC, including:
- What IC is
- What defines ion chromatography
- What types of IC are available and the differences between them
- What the chromatographic output is from IC and what qualitative and quantitative data it provides
- How IC works
- The core principles behind IC from sample introduction to detection
- How both anion and cation exchange work and the types of exchangers
- How the separation process works and its impact on retention time
- How elution times can be affected by charge, size, concentration and polarizability
- How different universal and selective detectors work such as an electric conductivity detector or a pulsed amperometric detector (PAD)
- Why we use IC
- The use of IC for qualitative analysis and quantitation, data analysis
- Why IC is useful for ionic species with high upper mass limits such as proteins
- Why IC can be hyphenated with other techniques like mass spectrometry (MS) for speciation analysis using IC-MS
- Where IC is involved
- Common sample preparation techniques for IC including filtration and why it is important
- Where sources of error can occur in IC and where this can impact analytical workflows
- When IC is the right choice
- Real-world, interactive, exercises of example applications across various industries such as in pharmaceuticals, environmental monitoring and forensics
- When we would use a particular type of IC and considerations taken when analysing organic or inorganic samples
What knowledge will I gain?
By the end of the course, you will:
- Understand the principles and concepts of IC
- Know and define the key terminology associated with IC
- Feel confident discussing IC, sample preparation, the pros and cons of different IC types
- Comprehend IC chromatograms and what information can be gained from the results with data analysis
- Appreciate the pros and cons of hyphenating IC and MS
- Understand the chemistry of IC, from separation and exchange of ions to how different detectors work
This course gives you the language and understanding needed to work with IC in everyday lab life.
Is this course for me?
This training is designed for anyone who needs an introduction to IC, including:
- For beginners to IC
- Analysts & technicians wanting a clear, structured refresher
- Laboratory or line managers overseeing IC within the lab
- Data analysts and report writers who interpret results but do not use the instruments
- Service and consultant engineers who use IC
- Sales, marketing or commercial teams working with IC systems, consumables, data or laboratory services
If IC touches your work in any way, this well-planned RSC CPD approved course delivered by experts in the field equips you to understand the science behind this technique.
What's next?
Feedback from previous attendees
“It was a good refresher for the basics of chromatography, and I learned new things about ion chromatography, all topics were very useful.” Scientist, 2025
“Provided a good explanation of the theory behind IC and description of why certain columns and detectors are used for different applications” Analytical Chemist, 2025
