Separation of polystyrenes by means of open tubular capillary chromatography.

Simulating polymer separation in flow-through channels of monolithic columns, separation of a mixture of polystyrene standards was investigated using open tubular capillary column of 2 μm inner diameter. High column efficiency was observed for polymers of molar mass ranged from few tens to few hundred kDas. Column efficiency significantly decreased for polymers with molar mass larger than 500 kDa nevertheless preserving value of few tens of thousands theoretical plates.

Monolithic columns with optimized pore structure for molecular size-based separations of synthetic polymers.

Monolithic capillary columns based on divinylbenzene were synthesized using different alcanols as porogens. Prepared columns were tested in separation of polystyrene standards according to their molar mass (MM) and were characterized by corresponding calibration graphs. It was demonstrated that a decrease of alcanol chain length from dodecanol to octanol resulted in a decrease of column permeability and in an improved column ability to separate polystyrene standards.

Characterization of monolithic capillary columns using inverse gas chromatography.

Polymeric monoliths of different polymeric natures and different degrees of cross-linking were prepared in capillaries of inner diameter 100 microm. The properties of the monoliths prepared were investigated by means of inverse gas chromatography. Solubility coefficient S, Flory-Huggins parameter chi(12)(infinity), and reduced Flory-Huggins parameter chi(12)(infinity') were evaluated.

Comparison of nonporous silica-based ion exchangers and monolithic ion exchangers in separations of inorganic anions.

Low capacity anion exchangers for IC have been prepared by modification of nonporous uniformed silica MICRA microbeads and by modification of the organic polymeric monolithic matrixes prepared in situ in quarz capillary. Due to the small particle size (1.5 microm) high-performance adsorbents were prepared allowing to obtain up to 190,000 tp/m.