High-performance liquid chromatography (
HPLC; formerly referred to as
high-pressure liquid chromatography), is a technique in
analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. It relies on pumps to pass a pressurized liquid
solvent containing the sample mixture through a column filled with a solid
adsorbent material. Each component in the sample interacts slightly differently with the adsorbent material, causing different flow rates for the different components and leading to the separation of the components as they flow out the column.