Materials for gel chromatography

Three fundamental kinds of materials used in gel chromatography will be discussed in this section, namely column fillings, mobile phases and reference materials. 

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Novak, 1. and Berek, D. (1978) Porous carbon as column filling material for gel chromatography. In Proc. 6th Disc. Conf. Chromatography of polymers and polymers in chromatography, Prague, C 27. 

Sephadex is one of the most popular materials for gel chromatography. It is widely used by biochemists for separating proteins, nucleic acids, enzymes, and carbohydrates. Most often, water or aqueous solutions of buffers are used as the moving phase. Chemically, Sephadex is a polymeric carbohydrate that has been cross-linked. The degree of cross-linking determines the size of the "holes" in the polymer matrix. In addition, the hydroxyl groups on the polymer can adsorb water, which causes the material to swell. As it expands, "holes" are created in the matrix. Several different gels are available from manufacturers, each with its own set of characteristics. 

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