Temperature effects on retention and efficiency of butyl and lauryl acrylate porous polymer monoliths in capillary electrochromatography

Influence of the Polymerization Parameters on the Porosity and Thermal Stability of Polymeric Monoliths

Rigid porous polymeric monoliths are robust, highly efficient, versatile stationary phases. They offer simple preparation and convenient modification provided by a whole range of synthesis factors, e.g., starting monomers, cross-linkers, initiators, porogens, polymerization techniques, and temperature. The main aim of this study was to synthesize polymeric monoliths and determine the correlation between polymerization parameters and the porosity and thermal stability of the obtained materials. Polymeric monoliths were synthesized directly in HPLC columns using N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (NVP) and 4-vinylpiridine (4VP) as functional monomers, with trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) serving as the cross-linking monomer. During copolymerization a mixture of cyclohexanol/decane-1-ol was used as the pore-forming diluent. Polymerization was carried out at two different temperatures: 55 and 75 °C. As a result, monoliths with highly developed internal structure were synthesized. The value of their specific surface area was in the range of 92 m2/g to 598 m2/g, depending on the monomer composition and polymerization temperature. Thermal properties of the obtained materials were investigated by means of thermogravimetry (TG). Significant differences in thermal behavior were noticed between monoliths synthesized at 55 and 75 °C. Additionally, the poly(NVP-co-TRIM) monolith was successfully applied in GC analyses.

A thermodynamic study of capillary electrochromatographic retention of aromatic hydrocarbons on a lauryl acrylate porous polymer monolithic column with measured phase ratio

The phase ratio of a chromatographic system is an important measurement that has long been estimated or calculated, but rarely directly measured. This study utilized a nanoflow liquid chromatography instrument to more accurately measure the phase ratio for a lauryl acrylate porous polymer monolith. Direct measurement of the phase ratio, and its dependence on temperature, allows for a better understanding of the thermodynamics of retention of small analytes. This study investigates the retention of an alkyl benzene series, toluene to octylbenzene, via capillary electrochromatography. The phase ratio was determined to be 0.202 at 303 K and 0.213 at 333 K. Using the directly measured phase ratio, entropic contributions to retention can also be obtained. Therefore, the Gibbs free energy calculations from these measurements and methods can give insight to modes of retention. The free energy of retention for toluene is -3.97 kJ/mol at 303 K and -3.78 kJ/mol at 333 K. The trends for enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs free energy of transfer show that retention is enthalpically driven in this capillary electrochromatography (CEC) porous polymer monolith system.

Recent developments of monolithic and open-tubular capillary electrochromatography (2017-2019)

Capillary electrochromatography, which combined the high selectivity of high-performance liquid chromatography and the high separation efficiency of capillary electrophoresis, is an attractive separation tool. In this review, the developments on monolithic and open tubular capillary electrochromatography during 2017 to August 2019 are summarized. Considering the development of novel stationary phases is the most active research field in capillary electrochromatography, monolithic capillary electrochromatography is classified according to the polymer-based and hybrid monolithic columns, while open-tubular capillary electrochromatography is categorized by cyclodextrin, silica, polymer, nanomaterials, microporous materials, and biomaterials-based open tubular columns.