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A simple procedure for the preparation of fritless columns by entrapping conventional high performance liquid chromatography sorbents
Author(s) -
Chirica Gabriela S.,
Remcho Vincent T.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/1522-2683(20000901)21:15<3093::aid-elps3093>3.0.co;2-d
Subject(s) - chromatography , capillary action , sorbent , matrix (chemical analysis) , high performance liquid chromatography , chemistry , capillary electrochromatography , materials science , stationary phase , composite material , organic chemistry , adsorption
A rapid and direct method for immobilizing conventional high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) packing material inside fritless capillaries has been developed. Due to the simple composition of the entrapment matrix (tetraethoxysilane, alkyltriet‐hoxysilane, ethanol and water), straightforward manufacturing procedure and modest equipment requirement, the method can readily be transferred to any laboratory and easily automated. The entrapment procedure has minimal influence on the structure and chromatographic properties of the original reverse‐phase sorbent. Various immobilization solutions have been tested, and a comparison between columns entrapped with different immobilization mixtures and conventional packed capillaries is presented. High effficiency separations were obtained using tert ‐butyl‐triethoxysilane entrapped columns in both capillary electrochromatography (reduced plate heights of 1.1—1.4 were measured) and microliquid chromatography (reduced plate heights of 2.2—2.6 were observed) formats. Elimination of frits, stabilization of the packed bed and on‐the‐fly customization of column length render mechanically robust columns that are remarkably stable over time, from which manufacturing imperfections can be removed easily.