Effect of sporopollenin microparticle incorporation into the hexyl methacrylate-based monolithic columns for capillary liquid chromatography

Sporopollenin microparticles have been prepared form Lycopodium clavatum spores, defatted and incorporated into a porous methacrylate polymer monolith to enhance liquid chromatographic performance of different sets of small neutral molecules. A stable suspension between sporopollenin microparticles and porogenic solvents composed of 1-propanol and 1,4-butandiol has proved before preparation, and seven compositions with increasing sporopollenin microparticles were prepared inside fused silica tubing. After optimizing of the preparation conditions, the structure of the stationary phase was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, surface area analysis, thermodynamic study, short- and long-term precision, and hydrodynamic properties including mechanical stability, porosity, and permeability. The columns were successfully applied to improve the separation efficiency of different mixtures using capillary liquid chromatography. Addition of very small amount of sporopollenin microparticles to the methacrylate mixture enhanced the column efficiency from 3 to 5 times for ketonic and phenolic compounds and reduced the retention with the corresponding better resolution and peak shapes for all studied compounds.