Particle diameters, HPLC columns

From the view point of the assessment, the quality of an HPLC separation in response to changes in different system variables, such as the stationary phase particle diameter, the column configuration, the flow rate, or mobile phase composition, or alternatively, changes in a solute variable such as the molecular size, net charge, charge anisotropy, or hydrophobic cluster distribution of a protein, can be based on evaluation of the system peak capacity (PC) in the analytical modes of HPLC separations and the system productivity (Peff) parameters in terms of bioactive mass recovered throughput per unit time at a specified purity level and operational cost structure. The system peak capacity PC depends on the relative selectivity and the bandwidth, and can be defined as... 

The requirement for small diameter particles in high-resolution chromatography is well established. The great majority of HPLC columns for analysis contain particles which are 10 micron or less in diameter. HPLC columns used in preparative work contain particles that are rarely greater than 25 micron, which may be considered the upper... 

Packed column An HPLC column containing particles of inert material of typically 5 ttm diameter on which the stationary phase is coated. 

Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) analysis Quantitation system Agilent Series 1100 liquid chromatograph Chromsep Omnispher 3 Cig HPLC column, 100 x 4.6-mm i.d., 3- am diameter particle size... 

LC-MS inlet probes support all conventional HPLC column diameters from mobile phase must be eliminated, either before entering or from inside the mass spectrometer, so that the production of ions is not adversely affected. The problem of removing the solvent is usually overcome by direct-liquid-introduction (DLI), mechanical transport devices, or particle beam (PB) interfaces. The main disadvantages of transport devices are that column... 

First, we will explore the three fundamental factors in HPLC retention, selectivity, and efficiency. These three factors ultimately control the separation (resolution) of the analyte(s). We will then discuss the van Deemter equation and demonstrate how the particle diameter of the packing material and flow rate affect column efficiencies. 

Although HPLC column technology is considered to be a mature field now, improvements and new developments are being made continuously in the stationary phases. One of the improvements has been the reduction in particle sizes. Smaller particles help to improve mass transfer and provide better efficiency. Manufacturers are producing particles down to 1.5 J,m in diameter, although 3- and 5- J,m particles are still the most popular. Because of the smaller particle sizes, the backpressure increases proportionally to the inverse of the square of the particle size. Most commercially available HPLC systems cannot accommodate the pressures required to operate these columns at optimum flow rates. This has led to the introduction of systems that run at high pressures. 

Much of the recent impetus for temperature control has focused on exploiting the effects of elevated temperature on viscosity and diffusion coefficients [2], These lead to faster separations and also allow smaller particle diameters to be employed with conventional HPLC hardware. As the viscosity of solvents decreases, the column pressure drops. This can be exploited by using faster flow rates and smaller particle diameters. All of this leads to faster separations. In one experiment in this laboratory, a separation which required 8 min at room temperature was reduced to 2 min at 50°C without changing the column. Speed enhancements of as much as 50-I00-fold have been reported [13] as shown in Figure 9.1. 

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