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Chromolith® HPLC and UHPLC columns

Chromolith® HPLC and UHPLC columns are made from monolithic silica with a bimodal pore structure using sol-gel technology. There are no silica particles.

Several key benefits result directly from the bimodal pore structure of the silica gel, which has 2 µm macropores and 13 nm mesopores:

  • Rapid separations at very low column back-pressure
  • Standard HPLC instruments are fully compatible with all Chromolith® columns and UHPLC instruments are fully compatible with Chromolith® UHPLC 2mm I.D. columns.
  • Matrix-rich samples (such as food or life science samples) can be analyzed without the need for sophisticated and time-consuming sample preparation. Guard column cartridges are also available.
  • Cost-savings are achieved as the column lifetimes are much longer than for particulate HPLC columns, in particular when analyzing matrix-rich samples.
  • Complex multi-component samples can be separated either by using Chromolith® HighResolution (HR) columns or by using long very high-efficiency columns formed by connecting two or more Chromolith® columns together. The low column backpressure makes this possible.
  • Easy transfer of methods from a particulate column to a Chromolith® column.
  • Chromolith® WP 300 columns are an excellent solution for the separation of Biomolecules

The columns are available not only with octadecyl (RP-18e) or octyl (RP-8e) endcapped surface modification, but also with Phenyl, CN (nitrile), Diol and NH2 (amino) surface modification as well as an unmodified pure silica.

Chromolith® 2 mm I.D.: 1.5 µm
Chromolith® Prep 25 mm I.D. 3 µm Macropores

The internal diameters of the analytical columns are 2 mm, 3 mm, 4.6 mm and guard column cartridges with holders are also available. Chromolith® SemiPrep and Prep columns (10 mm and 25 mm I.D.) are also available as well as Chromolith® CapRod® capillary columns.

The mesopores of the silica gel in all Chromolith® columns are 13 nm, which gives a high specific surface area of 300 m2/g and good retention of the analytes.

Chromolith® UHPLC columns are Chromolith® columns with 2 mm internal diameter. These columns are ideal for use with UHPLC or UPLC instruments, thanks to their very small internal volumes. A particular benefit is again the very fast analysis, reduced sample-preparation and the low column backpressure.

monolithic-silica-structure

Figure 1.Electron-Microscope photo of monolithic silica structure.

The silica itself is high purity, type B silica for inertness, reproducibility and stability, with modern bonding processes that optimize bonded phase coverage and maximize stability, while minimizing bleed and unwanted secondary interactions.

Chromolith® HighResolution (HR) columns are also available with the benefit of increased efficiency, very good peak symmetry and low column backpressure.

These have smaller 1.15 µm macropores, which significantly increase the separation efficiency (theoretical plate number) of the columns. The efficiency is approximately equivalent to 2.6 µm particulate columns whereas the backpressure is approximately equivalent to 5 µm columns.

chromolith-column-separation

Figure 2.Chromolith Column Separation

Chromolith® HPLC and UHPLC monolithic silica columns are cladded in inert PEEK (polyetheretherketone) polymeric material and can be connected directly to HPLC, UHPLC or UPLC system as a “ready to use” column.

chromolith-column

Figure 3.Chromolith Column

Chromolith® Columns for Small Molecule Separations - I

Chromolith® Columns for Small Molecule Separations - II

Chromolith® Holder
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