Preparation and characterization of monoliths covalently bonded chelating groups for capillary electrochromatographic separation of metal ions

In this work, a novel polymer-based monolithic column was prepared using an o-phthalaldehyde-l-phenylalanine Schiff base complex as the reactive center and a mixture of methanol and n-propanol as the porogen. The monolithic column was employed for the separation of a metal ion mixture including Pb(II), Mn(II), Cu(II), Ni(II), Cr(III), Fe(III) and Cr(VI). Tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) was used as a mobile phase additive to enhance the separation efficiency of metal ions by EDTA precomplexation. Using a phosphate buffer (20 mM, pH 3.0), TBAB (10 mM), MeOH (15%, v/v), an applied voltage of −15 kV, and detection at 220 nm, the metal ion mixture was satisfactorily resolved. The average theoretical plate number was 17,900 plates/m. The separation was also carried out in the absence of TBAB, leading to dissimilar elution order and shorter retention time. The separation behavior of the monolithic column was also compared with that of the blank polymer. The unique properties of the monolithic column might be mediated by a combination of electrophoretic behavior and chromatographic retention involving hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions, as well as ligand exchange.