High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), is an analytical technique in chemistry used to separate, purify, identify, and quantify each component in a chemical mixture. In HPLC systems, high-pressure pumps force solvents containing a chemical sample mixture through a metal or polymer plastic tube that is filled with a stationary phase in the form of small, spherical particles (typically less than 100 µm in diameter). Each chemical analyte of the sample mixture interacts differently with the stationary particles and flows through the column at different rates of speed, passing through a detector at the end of the column at different times where they are recorded.

Chromatography columns are most commonly employed in the scientific fields of pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, environmental, toxicology, food and beverage, etc. Common uses of HPLC include detecting environmental contaminants in soil and groundwater, production of medications, purification of DNA, etc.