Preparation of a Polymer Monolithic Column Using Ionic Liquid as Porogen and Its Application in Separations of Proteins and Small Molecules

A polymer-based monolithic column was prepared for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), using ionic liquids as porogen within the confines of a stainless steel column (50 × 4.6 mm i.d.). In the process, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride and dodecyl alcohol were used as bi-porogens, vinyl ester resin as the monomer, ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate as the crosslinker, CCl₄ as the initiator, and FeCl₂ as the catalytic agent to prepare the polymer-based monolithic column. Scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption–desorption instrument, and mercury intrusion porosimetry were used to assay the characteristics of the monolith, respectively. The optimized monolith showed uniform structure and good permeability. Then, the column was used as the stationary phase of HPLC to separate standard proteins and human plasma with gradient elution. Besides, the monolith was used to separate aromatic compounds from the mixture. The results showed that the addition of IL could effectively improve the structure of monoliths prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization technique. The results also suggested that this kind of monolith could be used as a simple, cheap and effective stationary phase for HPLC.