But my peaks are not Gaussian! Part 3: Physicochemical causes of peak tailing

Abstract

Although symmetric peaks with Gaussian shapes are predicted by models of the chromatographic process, "perfect peaks" are not observed often outside of textbooks. Several physico-chemical phenomena can lead to asymmetric peak shapes, including analyte adsorption to different types of sites within the stationary phase, and overload tailing, which may involve a variety of factors. Understanding these phenomena can help identify whether the cause of asymmetry is most likely to have a physical or chemical origin, which in turn dictates which troubleshooting steps to start with when dealing with poor peak shapes