Construction of polymer monolithic columns in polypropylene ink-pen tubes for separation of proteins by cation-exchange chromatography.

We describe the synthesis of polymer monoliths inside polypropylene tubes from ink pens. These tubes are cheap, chemically stable, and resistant to pressure. UV-initiated grafting with 5 wt% benzophenone in methanol for 20 min activated the internal surface, thus enabling the covalent binding of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, also via photografting.

Fast construction of polymer monolithic columns inside fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) tubes for separation of proteins by reversed-phase liquid chromatography.

This paper describes the preparation of polymer monolithic columns in the confines of fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) tubes. These tubes are cheap, chemically stable, and widely used in flow analysis laboratories. UV-initiated grafting with 5 wt% benzophenone in methanol for 1 h activated the internal surface walls, thus enabling the further covalent binding of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) from a 15 wt% solution in methanol, also via photografting.