Particle Loaded Monolithic Sol-Gel Columns for Capillary Electrochromatography: A New Dimension for High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

Particle-loaded (3 μm, octadecylsilica) monolithic sol-gel columns have been prepared and selected characteristics measured. Several electrical properties may be calculated from simple current measurements in the column as a whole. Resistivity in the packed segment is approximately three times that in open segments, resulting in a 60% increase in field strength in the packed regions compared to the capillary with no packing. The surprisingly high specific permeability of these sol-gel columns is characteristic of 8-μm particles, which allows their operation in the microLC mode at pressures as low as 69 kPa where their efficiency is about 50,000 plates per meter and in the CEC mode where efficiency is about 106,000 plates per meter at 5 kV. There is a relatively rapid loss of efficiency with increasing linear velocity beyond 0.2 mm/s in microLC mode, which may be due to additional diffusion processes in the inter-particulate voids. A rapid loss of efficiency above 0.5 mm/s is also observed in the CEC mode, for the same reasons. Chromatographic retention behavior in either separation mode is characteristic of conventional octadecylsilica particles, indicating that analytes have significant access to the surface within the pores of the immobilized bonded phase.