Flexible soft glass capillary columns vs. flexible fused silica capillary columns for gas chromatography-a critique

The gas chromatographic use of flexible thin walled soft glass capillary columns coated with non-polar stationary phases is compared to similar columns made of fused silica glass. With non-polar soft glass columns, the use of surface roughening viagaseous HCI followed by a Carbowax 20 M pretreatment gave adsorptive phenomena, and thermal instability. With very polar soft glass columns where a variety of cyanopropyl silicone phases were coated directly onto the NaCI crystal matrix, adsorptive effects were again prominent and frequent break-down in film stability with time, was also observed. These undesirable effects were due to the presence of metal oxides in the soft glass. Attempts to remove these materials from the thin walled soft glass surface by means of acid leaching produced significant brittleness. This deleterious result was further increased by attempts at high temperature silylation or polysiloxane deactivation. In sharp contrast, the fused silica surface was essentially free of metal oxides and the surface silanol groups are easily neutralized by silylation or polysiloxane deactivation techniques. No brittleness was observed following these procedures. An increasing series of high molecular weight, viscous, polymeric vinyl containing non-polar and highly polar stationary phases have been produced which readily wet the surface of the fused silica and are easily crosslinked in the presence of free radical generators. These columns are essentially free of all the problems noted with flexible thin walled soft glass. When all of the parameters involved in the fabrication of a glass capillary column are assessed, it appears at this time, that the flexible fused silica glass column with cross linked phases approaches the “ideal” capillary column.     

An investigation of glasses for capillary chromatography

An investigation was conducted of various glasses, other than soda lime or borosilicate, for use in glass capillary gas chromatography. The work has uncovered some unique chromatographic qualities in the use of potash soda lead and fused silica glasses as materials for making glass capillary columns. The fused silica proved to be an ideal material for capillary column construction, being inherently more inert than glass containing metal oxides. It has been shown that through the use of thin wall capillary tubing of high flexibility many of the mechanical problems associated with glass capillary columns, such as fragility and column straightening, can be avoided.     

Testing the polarity and adsorptivity of nondeactivated GC capillary surfaces

Split injection of 1-pentanol headspace on to raw or treated fused silica tubing yields information on the characteristics of its surface (silanol concentration, polarity, adsorptivity). Fused silica tubing from three sources was compared. The effect of various leaching and etching procedures used for column preparation was studied, as was the stability of uncoated fused silica precolumns towards water and some organic solvents.     

纳米硅胶多孔层毛细管气相色谱柱的原位溶胶-凝胶法制备及其应用

采用原位溶胶-凝胶法在毛细管内壁上合成出均匀的纳米硅胶多孔层,对纳米硅胶颗粒进行了形貌表征,同时考察了不同反应条件下合成的纳米硅胶的比表面积、孔容和孔径的变化规律。先采用含氢硅油高温键合固化硅胶层,然后用无机盐淋洗钝化毛细管色谱柱,制备出纳米多孔层硅胶毛细管色谱柱。考察了所制备的纳米多孔层硅胶毛细管色谱柱对挥发性氟氯烃、水中氯代烃、含硫化合物以及低碳烃的分离特性。结果表明:所制备的纳米多孔层硅胶毛细管色谱柱具有良好的分离能力、一定的抗水性、稳定的色谱保留特性和良好的制柱重复性。     

The use of silicon in the preparation of apolar glass capillary columns

As an extention of previous reports, variables affecting the performance of columns modified by silicon deposition have been optimized. The aim of this work was to produce thermostable apolar glass capillary columns regardless of the glass type used and to maintain column performance under stressful conditions. The main parameters studied were the influence of glass type, leaching effects, and silicon layer thickness on column activity. Deactivation and stationary phase conditions were held constant. Both coated and uncoated columns were tested. The thickness of the silicon layer was found to be relatively unimportant. There was no difference whether soft glass or borosiiicate glass was used and leaching before silicon deposition did not influence column activity. Bare silicon surfaces showed considerable activity especially in respect to interactions with free acids and bases. There are indications that the surface consists of silicon oxide and other oxygenated forms of silicon rather than of the element. Treatment of the silicon layers with dilute hydrofluoric acid and the strict exclusion of traces of oxygen and water did not improve the situation. In spite of such specific interactions, silicon surfaces were easily deactivated by heat treatment with polysiloxanes. Silicon surfaces deactivated by baking with octamethyltetrasiloxane at 400°C are inert and temperature stable and show characteristics similar to persilylated surfaces.     

A crosslinked chiral stationary phase for the separation of enantiomers by gas and supercritical fluid chromatography

Crosslinking experiments for the chiral stationary phase OV-225-L-Val-t-butylamide within both fused silica and glass capillary columns have been carried out. Amino acid enantiomers were separated on crosslinked columns by both GC and SFC methods. In SFC, the a values of amino acid enantiomers are independent of the density of the mobile phase, and they are hig her than those obtained by GC for the tested enantiomers with the same column due to the lower column temperature used in SFC.     

Glass capillary or fused-silica gas chromatography--mass spectrometry of several monosaccharides and related sugars: improved resolution

The gas chromatographic separation of several monosaccharides and related sugars derivatized by methoxylation and trimethylsilylation reactions was optimized with glass capillary (SP-2250) and fused silica (SP-2100) columns. Individual sugars included aldoses, ketoses, polyols, acidic forms and N-acetylated amino sugars. Peaks were detected by selected ion monitoring (SIM). The fused silica column gave complete resolution of all peaks (two per hexose and one per hexitol) arising from glucose, galactose, mannose, fructose, sorbitol, mannitol and dulcitol. The resolution of these sugars with the glass capillary column was not as good, but full differentiation was possible on the basis of SIM. Because the fused silica column gave a better resolution of 33 sugars tested and was more easily installed than the glass capillary column, it was utilized for quantitative analysis. A deuterated algal sugar mixture used for quantitation by isotope dilution was found to contain glucose, galactose, mannose, xylose, arabinose, ribose and rhamnose. Full recoveries were obtained of various amounts of glucose, galactose, mannose, fructose and xylose added to human serum.     

Thermal modulated interaction of aqueous steroids using polymer-grafted capillaries

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PIPAAm) of controlled molecular weight was densely grafted onto glass capillary lumenal surfaces using surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Temperature-dependent changes of these thermoresponsive brush surfaces with hydrophobic steroids were investigated by exploiting thermoresponsive aqueous wettability changes of the polymer-modified surfaces in microfluidic systems. IPAAm was polymerized on ATRP initiator-immobilized glass surfaces using CuCl/CuCl(2)/tris(dimethylaminoethyl)amine (Me(6)TREN) as an ATRP catalyst in water at 25 degrees C. PIPAAm graft layer thickness and its homogeneity on glass surfaces are controlled by changing ATRP reaction time. Aqueous wettability changes of PIPAAm-grafted surfaces responses drastically changed to both grafted polymer layer thickness and temperature, especially at lower temperatures. Temperature-responsive surface properties of these PIPAAm brushes within capillary inner wall surfaces were then investigated using capillary chromatography. Effective interaction of hydrophobic steroids with dehydrated, hydrophobized PIPAAm-grafted capillary surfaces was observed above 30 degrees C without any column packing materials. Steroid elution behavior from PIPAAm-grafted capillaries contrasted sharply with that from PIPAAm hydrogel-grafted porous monolithic silica capillaries prepared by electron beam (EB) irradiation wherein significant peak broadening was observed at high-temperature regardless of sample hydrophobicity factors (log P values), indicating multistep separation modes in coated monolithic silica capillaries. In conclusion, thermoresponsive polymer-grafted capillary inner wall surfaces prepared by ATRP exhibit useful temperature-dependent surface property alterations effective to regulate interactions with biomolecules without requirements for separation bed packing materials within the capillary lumen.     

High temperature gas chromatography: The development of new aluminum clad flexible fused silica glass capillary columns coated with thermostable nonpolar phases: Part 1

With the simultaneous development of blank aluminum clad flexible fused silica glass capillary tubing capable of withstanding temperatures up to 500°C, coincident with a series of special high temperature methyl polysiloxane polymers, it was possible to produce for the first time, long lived fused silica capillary columns containing thin films of thermostable stationary phases which could be maintained isothermally at 400425°C and temperature programmed to 425–440°C. The “bleed rate” here for a well conditioned column was 5 picoamperes or less. Under these circumstances, alkanes with carbon numbers in the C-90 to C-100 area were rapidly and efficiently eluted from these columns. By extrapolation here, one can easily detect certain compounds with boiling points in the 750°C range. Since this type of capillary column was found to possess certain favorable properties, it was thought that it will soon replace the packed column and will probably be more popular than the borosilicate capillary column for many high temperature applications. Moreover, evidence has now accumulated which leads us to further believe that the majority of analyses of “high molecular weight” compounds performed by Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC), utilizing very narrow bore fused silica capillary columns at several hundred atmospheres, can be much more simply, much more rapidly, much more economically, and much more efficiently accomplished by gas chromatography utilizing this new generation of high temperature capillary columns.     

Characterization of glass,quartz, and fused silica capillary column surfaces from contact-angle measurements

Summary This paper describes the systematic characterization of glass and the newly introduced fused silica and quartz capillary columns from surface wettability measurements. Common gas chromatographic stationary phases were used in capillary-rise measurements at temperatures up to 300°C. By construction of Zisman plots and using the Cassie equation, the relative surface concentrations of wettable and non-wettable groups were determined. By application of the Fowkes equation, the dispersion force component of the surface energy was investigated. The influence of various surface treatments such as leaching, silylation, and polymeric film formation are discussed. Wettability measurements were also used to evaluate the thermostability of various treated surfaces and to compare the surface properties of glass, quartz, and fused silica. The wettability of the surfaces with selected stationary phases as a function of temperature is also discussed.     

Silica‐particle‐supported zwitterionic polymer monolith for microcolumn liquid chromatography

A silica‐particle‐supported zwitterionic polymeric monolithic column, shortened as supported column (S‐column), was prepared by the in situ polymerization of methacrylic acid, ethylene dimethacrylate, and 2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate in the presence of a ternary porogenic solvent containing water, methanol, and cyclohexanol in a 250 μm id fused‐silica capillary prepacked with 5 μm bare silica particles. In the S‐column, a thin layer of the polymers was formed around the silica particles in the form of nanoglobules, leaving the interstitial spaces between the particles free for liquid flow. The effects of the preparation conditions on the morphology of the monolith were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and backpressure measurements. The selected volumetric ratio of porogens, monomer concentration, polymerization time, and temperature are 1:1:8 (water/methanol/cyclohexanol), 25% v/v, 5 h, and 60°C, respectively. The S‐column was evaluated by comparison with its conventional organic counterpart in terms of morphology, mechanical stability, permeability, swelling–shrinking behavior, capacity, and efficiency. The results demonstrate that the S‐column is superior to its counterpart in all the terms with the exception of permeability. The above merits and zwitterionic property of the S‐column were further confirmed by separate separations of four inorganic anions and three organic cations.     

Glass capillary gas chromatography of highly polar solutes like diols,acids and amines deactivation of fused silica and pretreated alkali glass support surfaces

Summary The method of support surface deactivation by PSD (alkylpolysiloxane degradation) at temperature between 300 and 450°C previously described was used to deactivate both fused silica and alkali glass surfaces of capillary columns. The latter surfaces had to be pretreated before deactivation with aqueous HCl leaching or by the dealkalisation method using flowing HCl gas at 450°C and subsequent rinsing with water for alkali removal. Excellent alkylpolysiloxane columns with regard to tailing and irreversible adsorption of highly polar solutes have been obtained on both fused silica and the pretreated alkali glass. Fused silica does not require pretreatment before deactivation by the PSD-method, however. Good polyethyleneglycol (Carbowax 20 M) columns can also be obtained by coating the two types of surfaces when no deactivation is necessary. Deactivation by the PSD method cannot be applied in this case because polar stationary liquids do not adhere to alkylpolysiloxane deactivated surfaces. Sample capacity problems arising when separating highly polar solutes with non-polar stationary phases have also been investigated.     

Supercritical fluid extraction of PCBs in tandem with high resolution gas chromatography in environmental analysis

A simple method has been developed for the direct coupling of supercritical fluid extractions (SFE) with a high resolution gas chromatograph (HRGC) equipped with an electron capture detector (ECD). SFE conditions have been investigated for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from sediments in terms of mobile phase, entrainer, pressure, temperature, and mass-flow through the extractor. Dynamic leaching and static steady-state extractions were compared. Extraction efficiencies of up to 100% in less than 15 minutes have been obtained. The extracted PCBs are quantitatively transferred into a fused silica open tubular column (OTC). Determination of PCBs was tested on certified sediment from National Water Research Institute and the results agreed well with certified values.     

Preparation of apolar glass capillary columns by the barium carbonate procedure

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.     

Determination of surface hydroxyl concentration on glass and fused silica capillary columns

Summary The concentration of surface hydroxyl groups on three types of capillary columns was determined by exchanging the hydroxyl protons with tritium. The tritium was quantified by combustion to tritiated water followed by scintillation counting. The number of hydroxyl groups on a leached and presumably hydroxylated Pyrex glass capillary column was found to be about 2.8 groups per square nanometer. This value was slightly less than the 4.6 groups per square nanometer that is generally accepted for a fully hydroxylated porous silica. Dehydroxylation of the same glass by heating at 600°C left only 0.4 groups per square nanometer while an untreated fused silica had only 0.2 groups per square nanometer.Dedicated to Dr. Leslie S. Ettre for his 60th birthday.     

Simultaneous determination of silicon and phosphorus in biological standard materials with on-line column flow-injection spectrophotometry

Summary A simultaneous determination of silicon and phosphorus in biological standard materials with on-line column flow-injection spectrophotometry (FIA) is described. Biological materials are ashed, fused with a lithium carbonate-boric acid mixture, and dissolved in a hydrochloric acid solution. Interfering cations are removed by a simple cation-exchange column filtration. The acid effluent is evaporated to dryness, fused with a small amount of sodium carbonate for depolymerization, taken up in dilute EDTA solution, and analyzed for silica and phosphorus by FIA. For the simultaneous determination of these elements, TSK-gel SAX was used, and the eluent was 0.085 mol/l NaCl/0.01 mol/l NH₃/0.001 mol/l EDTA. Several standard reference materials [bovine liver (NBS), chlorella and pepperbush (NIES)] were analyzed for both elements. The results of phosphorus determination for bovine liver are in satisfactory agreement with the NBS certificated value. ICP measurements were applied to analyses of chlorella and pepperbush for silica and phosphorus. The agreement of the analytical results between FIA and ICP is satisfactory. Silica in bovine liver was determined in the present study for the first time.

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Simultanbestimmung von Silicium und Phosphor in biologischen Standardmaterialien mit Hilfe von On-line Fließinjektions-Spektralphotometrie

     

强极性色谱固定相硅膜改性弹性玻璃毛细管柱的研制

本工作研究了强极性OV-275固定液可以直接涂渍在硅膜改性弹性玻璃毛细管上,研制的柱子具有良好的色谱特性。该柱的柱效,惰性以及热稳定性均优于弹性石英毛细管柱。     

Sample Preparation and X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of Sulfide Ores

Sulfide ores with varied concentrations, including four ore reference materials (zinc, copper, and iron sulfides) and two copper-nickel and iron sulfide samples, were used to develop an improved method for their analysis by X-ray fluorescence. The optimum conditions were established for the fusion of homogeneous stable glass disks. Different weights of silica were added to the samples, which were then fused with a lithium borate flux. The amount of silica varied from 1:20 for samples with low sulfur concentrations to 1:5 for those with high concentrations. The weight ratio of sample (including silica) to lithium tetraborate was 1:14. Lithium nitrate was used as a pre-oxidizing reagent to prevent degradation of platinum–gold crucibles. After pre-oxidation at 580°C for 13 minutes, the temperature was increased to 1100°C for 12 minutes. The relative standard deviations for major and trace elements were generally better than 5% and 10%, respectively.     

毛细管电泳中影响径向电场控制电渗的主要因素

利用自制的二维电场毛细管电泳系统研究了不同因素对径向电场控制电渗能力的影响,发现缓冲液的ｐＨ值、浓度、种类以及管壁表面状态、管径等对电渗的电场调控有关键性的影响。有趣的是,添加剂不影响电场的调控能力,而杯芳烃涂层毛细管却能提高电渗对径向电场的响应能力。利用这种涂层效应有可能实现较高ｐＨ值下电渗的电场调控。     

PoraPLOT Q: A porous layer open tubular column coated with styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer

A porous polymer is deposited on the inner wall of fused silica capillary columns. The retention characteristics of this porous polymer were evaluated and found to be comparable with Porapak Q. The porous polymer has a high retention volume which enables the separation of permanent gases at ambient temperatures or higher. The hydrophobic character of the porous polymer allows the injection of water containing samples without changing retention due to adsorption of water. The inertness of the porous polymer allows the elution of a range of apolar and polar compounds. The maximum temperature of the porous polymer was estimated to be 250°C. With this new type of capillary column, high resolution separations are obtained in combination with short analysis times.