Column efficiency improvement

Eigure 13.57 discusses in some detail the use of mobile-phase modifiers to prevent adsorption on PDVB resins. These concepts are very valuable in developing methods. Eor example, note how the observed column efficiencies improve for paraben analysis in the order of methanol < acetonitrile < 50/50 methanol/acetonitrile < THE. Eurthermore, when THE is used the chromato-... 

The volume of column packing used represents a length-width ratio of ca. 10 1. Since column efficiency improves as the length-width ratio is increased (for a given volume of packing), these approximate dimensions should be maintained. For example, when a length-width ratio of ca. 9 1 was applied (with the same amount of silica gel), there was not complete separation, and the yield of pure benzyl sulfide was less than optimum (93%). 

Two methods for improving chromatographic resolution (a) Original separation showing a pair of poorly resolved solutes (b) Improvement in resolution due to an increase in column efficiency ... 

From equation 12.1 it is clear that resolution may be improved either by increasing Afr or by decreasing wa or w-q (Figure 12.9). We can increase Afr by enhancing the interaction of the solutes with the column or by increasing the column s selectivity for one of the solutes. Peak width is a kinetic effect associated with the solute s movement within and between the mobile phase and stationary phase. The effect is governed by several factors that are collectively called column efficiency. Each of these factors is considered in more detail in the following sections. 

A column s efficiency improves with an increase in the number of theoretical plates or a decrease in the height of a theoretical plate. 

Equations 12.21 and 12.22 contain terms corresponding to column efficiency, column selectivity, and capacity factor. These terms can be varied, more or less independently, to obtain the desired resolution and analysis time for a pair of solutes. The first term, which is a function of the number of theoretical plates or the height of a theoretical plate, accounts for the effect of column efficiency. The second term is a function of a and accounts for the influence of column selectivity. Finally, the third term in both equations is a function of b, and accounts for the effect of solute B s capacity factor. Manipulating these parameters to improve resolution is the subject of the remainder of this section. 

Another important characteristic of a gas chromatographic column is the thickness of the stationary phase. As shown in equation 12.25, separation efficiency improves with thinner films. The most common film thickness is 0.25 pm. Thicker films are used for highly volatile solutes, such as gases, because they have a greater capacity for retaining such solutes. Thinner films are used when separating solutes of low volatility, such as steroids. 

Improvement of column efficiency in terms of the number of theoretical plates realized by increasing column length often yields marginal increases in resolution, with a corresponding increase of analysis time to unacceptable levels. This... 

As yet, the number of applications is limited but is likely to grow as instrumentation, mostly based on existing CE systems, and columns are improved and the theory of CEC develops. Current examples include mixtures of polyaromatic hydrocarbons, peptides, proteins, DNA fragments, pharmaceuticals and dyes. Chiral separations are possible using chiral stationary phases or by the addition of cyclodextrins to the buffer (p. 179). In theory, the very high efficiencies attainable in CEC mean high peak capacities and therefore the possibility of separating complex mixtures of hundreds of... 

In more demanding separations that require higher plate counts, specially designed rapid analysis columns packed with very high efficiency 2 to 3 /.an porous particles are available from several manufacturers. In addition, monolithic columns with improved flow-through characteristics are also commercially available. Figure 13.4 depicts a comparison of inlet pressure and flow rate for 4.6 mm inner diameter x 50, 100, and 150 mm columns packed with 5 /an particles. 

The quantity N is approximately constant for different bands or peaks in a chromatogram for a given set of operating conditions (a particular column and mobile phase, with fixed mobile-phase velocity, and temperature). Hence N is a useful measure of column efficiency the relative ability of a given column to provide narrow bands (small values of tw) and improved separations. 

It has been shown that when the intracolumn effect of mass transfer and diffusion is the main factor controlling band broadening, the column efficiency decreases with the increase of the viscosity of the meth-anol/water mixture on the other hand, when the extra-column effect is the main factor, an increase in viscosity of the eluents will help in improving column efficiency. Column efficiency is also related to the properties of the sample [86]. 

The effect of pore size on CEC separation was also studied in detail [70-75]. Figure 9 shows the van Deemter plots for a series of 7-pm ODS particles with pore size ranging from 10 to 400 nm. The best efficiency achieved with the large pore packing led to a conclusion that intraparticle flow contributes to the mass transfer in a way similar to that of perfusion chromatography and considerably improves column efficiency. The effect of pore size is also involved in the CEC separations of synthetic polymers in size-exclusion mode [76]. 

Another way to improve the performance of open-tubular columns was suggested by Sawada and Jinno [83]. They first vinylized the inner surface of a 25 pm i.d. capillary and then performed in situ copolymerization of f-butylacryl-amide and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-l-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS) to create a layer of polymeric stationary phase. This process does not currently allow good control over the homogeneity of the layer and the column efficiencies achieved in CEC separations of hydrocarbons were relatively low. These authors also recently thoroughly reviewed all the aspects of the open tubular CEC technologies [84]. 

Replacement of the hydrophilic acrylamide by the more hydrophobic N-iso-propylacrylamide, in combination with the pre-functionalization of the capillary with (3-methacryloyloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane, afforded a monolithic gel covalently attached to the capillary wall. A substantial improvement in the separations of aromatic ketones and steroids was observed using these fritless hydrogel columns, as seen by the column efficiencies of 160,000 found for hydrocortisone and testosterone [92]. The separations exhibited many of the attributes typical of reversed-phase chromatography and led to the conclusion that, in contrast to the original polyacrylamide-based gels, size-exclusion mechanism was no longer the primary mechanism of separation. 

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