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A model of flow‐through pore formation in methacrylate ester‐based monolithic columns
Author(s) -
Urban Jiří,
Moravcová Dana,
Jandera Pavel
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of separation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.72
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1615-9314
pISSN - 1615-9306
DOI - 10.1002/jssc.200500457
Subject(s) - polymerization , porosity , monolithic hplc column , methacrylate , monomer , materials science , ethylene glycol dimethacrylate , capillary action , chemical engineering , solvent , chromatography , polymer chemistry , chemistry , composite material , polymer , organic chemistry , engineering , methacrylic acid
The main factors affecting the porosity of methacrylate‐ester based monolithic columns were investigated. We prepared 23 monolithic capillary columns with porosity controlled by varying the proportions of butyl methacrylate and ethylene dimethacrylate monomers and of 1,4‐butanediol and 1‐propanol as the porogen solvent in the polymerization mixtures by thermally initiated in‐situ polymerization in fused‐silica capillaries. Using mixture design software, we systematically varied the composition of the polymerisation mixtures to find significant factors affecting flow‐through pore formation. Multivariate analysis of the experimental data obtained for the fabricated columns yielded a model for prediction of the flow‐through porosity in monolithic beds as a function of the composition of the polymerization mixture used to prepare polymethacrylate monolithic capillary columns. The mean error of prediction was lower than 8% for eight columns prepared independently of the original set of 15 columns used to derive the flow‐through model. The flow‐through porosity increases with increasing concentration of the binary porogen solvent mixture, the concentration of 1,4‐butanediol being the main factor enhancing flow‐through pore formation. On the other hand, increasing concentrations of the hydrophobic monomer butyl methacrylate and increasing concentrations of 1‐propanol have a negative effect on flow‐through pore formation. The capillary columns prepared with a high proportion of flow‐through pores and a minimum amount of mesopores can be used for fast gradient separations of both low‐molecular weight compounds and biopolymers.