Separation of colors and scents from candle wax
Separation of colors and scents from candle wax.
While electric lighting has have largely replaced candles as a light source, they are still popular for decorative purposes. Originally from bees wax, modern candles are typically made from paraffin or stearin. Often, coloring and scents are added to candles. These additives can be separated from the candle wax by chromatography. The paraffin which is the main constituent in modern candles is apolar and thus dissolved in normal phase chromatography solvents like hexane. Paraffin is expected to elute quickly. Less polar additives are retained on the silica in the chromatographic column and can therefore be separated from the paraffin. While colorants can be easily tracked by UV/Vis detection, paraffin and some scents pose a greater detection challenge, as they commonly lack characteristic chromophores. The ELSD included in the Pure C-815 provides facile and sensitive detection of such compounds. We are presenting an application in which candle wax is separated from added scents and colorants. The combination of ELSD and UV/VIS detection provided by the Pure systems is a powerful way to detect all compounds in the chromatographic separation.
