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Strong cation exchange monoliths for HPLC by Reactive Gelation
Author(s) -
Brand Bastian,
Krättli Martin,
Storti Giuseppe,
Morbidelli Massimo
Publication year - 2011
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.201100362
Subject(s) - monolith , monomer , chemistry , polymer , polystyrene , porosity , van deemter equation , chemical engineering , chromatography , high performance liquid chromatography , diffusion , suspension (topology) , solvent , organic chemistry , physics , mathematics , homotopy , pure mathematics , engineering , catalysis , thermodynamics
Polymeric monolithic stationary phases for HPLC can be produced by Reactive Gelation. Unlike the conventional method of using porogens, such novel process consists of a number of separate steps, thus enabling a better control of the quality of the final material. A suspension of polymer nanoparticles in water is produced and subsequently swollen with hydrophobic monomers. The particles are then destabilised (usually by salt addition) to make them aggregate into a large percolating structure, the so‐called monolith. Finally, the added monomer can then be polymerised to harden the structure. In this work, a polystyrene latex is used as the base material and functionalised by introduction of epoxide groups on the surface and subsequent reaction to sulphonic acid groups, yielding a ${\rm{SO}}_{\rm{3}}^{\rm{ - }}$ density of 0.7 mmol/g dry material. Morphological investigations show 54% porosity made of 300 nm large pores. Van Deemter measurements of a large protein show no practical influence of diffusion limitations on the plate number. Finally, a preliminary separation of a test protein mixture is shown, demonstrating the potential of using ion‐exchange chromatography on Reactive Gelation monoliths.