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Abstract
A preliminary study of the chromatographic performance and permeability of a continuous
silica xerogel column under reversed-phase HPLC conditions was performed. A porous
chromatographic support was synthesized inside a 0.32 mm i.d. × 13 cm fused silica
tube from potassium silicate solution and derivatized with dimethyloctadecylchlorosilane.
The plate height at 0.01 cm/s (0.5 μL/min), near the apparent optimum linear velocity,
was about 65 μm. The column efficiencies in terms of numbers of plates per meter were
5000 and 13 000 for ethyl benzoate (k = 0.8) and naphthalene (k = 2.0), respectively,
at 0.5 μL/min. The major parameter affecting column efficiency was the heterogeneous
morphology of the xerogel, modifications to which are expected to improve chromatographic
performance. The column provided efficiencies comparable to those reported for continuous
polymeric columns but less than that previously reported for a continuous silica column.
Gradient elution mode was demonstrated with a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
The column was highly permeable, exhibiting a linear dependence of pressure to flow
rate and a back pressure of only 632 psi at 10 μL/min when a 95% aqueous mobile phase
was used.