Size separation of colloidally dispersed nanoparticles using a monolithic capillary column

• Published in: Journal of Chromatography A Vol. 1218; no. 32; pp. 5520 - 5526
• Main Authors: Sakai-Kato, Kumiko, Ota, Shigenori, Takeuchi, Toyohide, Kawanishi, Toru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 12.08.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Capillarity; Chemistry; Chromatographic methods and physical methods associated with chromatography; chromatography; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - instrumentation; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods; Colloids; Colloids - chemistry; Dispersion; Exact sciences and technology; Linearity; Monolithic column; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanotechnology; Other chromatographic methods; Particle Size; Porosity; quality control; silica; Silicon Dioxide - chemistry; Size exclusion chromatography; Size separation; Nanoparticles; Size exclusion chromatography; Monolithic column; Capillary column; Scanning electron microscopy; Particle size; Peak resolution; Flow rate; Phase composition; Nanoparticle; Colloidal dispersion; Mobile phase; Particle separation; Silica; Gel permeation chromatography; Operating conditions; Surface structure; Particle size distribution; Morphology; Quality control; pH
• ISSN: 0021-9673; 1873-3778
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2011.06.055

We developed a method to separate colloidally dispersed nanoparticles on monolithic capillary columns. Silica nanoparticles were eluted according to their sizes, and the plots of the logarithm of the size of nanoparticles against their elution volume showed good linearity ( r = 0.992) over wide range of sizes. Because of the high porosity of the monolithic column (porosity; 88%), the column's length could be increased without clogging of the dispersed samples and the pressure in a long column (500 mm × 0.2 mm i.d.) was low, with a value of 5.8 MPa at a flow rate of 1 μL/min. We demonstrate that this method using monolithic capillary columns could be used as a powerful tool for size separation of nanometer-size materials, which will open a new pathway to quality control of nanomaterials in nanotechnology applications.