Packing material porous graphitic carbon

Porous graphitic carbon (PGC) has a rigid structure, is chemically stable and has a very hydrophobic surface. It can therefore be used for reversed-phased HPLC, where it displays a similar or greater degree of retention to ODS. It has excellent pH stability and hence ion suppression of either acidic or basic drugs is easily carried out on this material. It displays different selectivity to silica based packings, allowing isomeric separations more typical of unmodified silica to be carried out (Bassler, 1989). 

Many porous organic polymers are derived from the stationary phase used to pack GC columns. Tenax is one such example. This is a macroporous polymer obtained from diphenyl p-phenylene oxide (DPPO). Generally, this polymer is hydrophobic and does not retain water. However, it exhibits some ability to adsorb polar compounds. As a result of its low surface area (30 m /g), its adsorption capacity is limited and very volatile compounds are not trapped. Therefore, it is an appropriate material for trapping heavier compounds with more than four carbon atoms. Co-precipitated graphitized carbon black and Tenax (in the proportion 23 % to 77 %) was introduced on the market as Tenax GR. This adsorbent combines the advantages of both materials and is approximately twice as effective as Tenax TA [50]. 

The purpose and role of the solid support is the accommodation of a uniform deposition of stationary phase on the surface of the support. The most commonly used support materials are primarily diatomite supports and graphitized carbon (which is also an adsorbent for GSC), to a lesser extent. Teflon, inorganic salts and glass beads. There is no perfect support material because each has limitations. Pertinent physical properties of a support for packed-column GC are particle size, porosity, surface area, and packing density. Particle size impacts column efficiency via the A term or eddy diffusion contribution in the van Deemter expression (Equation 2.44). The surface area of a support is governed by its porosity, the more porous supports requiring greater amounts of stationary phase... 

---