| Abstract: | As an extension of previous reports, the barium carbonate procedure has been optimized in detail for the preparation of apolar columns. The aim was to produce optimum overall column characteristics, and to maintain them unchanged under the prolonged influence of the highest possible temperature. The main parameters under optimization were glass variety, leaching of glass surface with aqueous HCl, and amount of barium carbonate deposited, while deactivation and coating were kept constant. The basic column characteristics were adsorption properties and thermostability of deactivation, acid/base behaviour and separation efficiency. They were determined by a new, quantitative testing procedure. Intense leaching was able to eliminate almost totally the differences between glass varieties and to create a well-defined glass surface. While untreated glass, leached glass, and barium carbonate treated glass showed specific weak points in the respective column quality, the combination of leaching and barium carbonate treatment yielded the highest and most stable quality. Some technical modifications of the preparation procedure are described, including deactivation in the gas phase, and use of pentane as a solvent for static coating. |
