Feasibility of the preparation of silica monoliths for gas chromatography: fast separation of light hydrocarbons.

The preparation conditions of silica monoliths for gas chromatography were investigated. Silica-based monolithic capillary columns based on sol-gel process were tested in the course of high-speed gas chromatographic separations of light hydrocarbons mixture (C1-C4). The impact of modifying the amount of porogen and/or catalyst on the monolith properties were studied.