Electrospun glassy carbon ultra-thin layer chromatography devices

Application of HPTLC Multiwavelength Imaging and Color Scale Fingerprinting Approach Combined with Multivariate Chemometric Methods for Medicinal Plant Clustering According to Their Species

In the current study, multiwavelength detection combined with color scales HPTLC fingerprinting procedure and chemometric approach were applied for direct clustering of a set of medicinal plants with different geographical growing areas. The fingerprints profiles of the hydroalcoholic extracts obtained after single and double development and detection under 254 nm and 365 nm, before and after selective spraying with specific derivatization reagents were evaluated by chemometric approaches. Principal component analysis (PCA) with factor analysis (FA) methods were used to reveal the contribution of red (R), green (G), blue (B) and, respectively, gray (K) color scale fingerprints to HPTLC classification of the analyzed samples. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was used to classify the medicinal plants based on measure of similarity of color scale fingerprint patterns. The 1-Pearson distance measurement with Ward’s amalgamation procedure proved to be the most convenient approach for the correct clustering of samples. Data from color scale fingerprints obtained for double development procedure and multiple visualization modes combined with appropriate chemometric methods proved to detect the similar medicinal plant extracts even though they are from different geographical regions, have different storage conditions and no specific markers are individually extracted. This approach could be proposed as a promising tool for authentication and identification studies of plant materials based on HPTLC fingerprinting analysis.

Performance of Electropun Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibrous Phases, Shown for the Separation of Water-Soluble Food Dyes via UTLC-Vis-ESI-MS

Research in the miniaturization of planar chromatography led to various approaches in manufacturing ultrathin-layer chromatography (UTLC) layers of reduced thickness (<50 µm) along with smaller instrumentation, as targeted in Office Chromatography. This novel concept merges 3D print & media technologies with miniaturized planar chromatography to realize an all-in-one instrument, in which all steps of UTLC are automated and integrated in the same tiny device. In this context, the development of electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber phases was investigated as well as its performance. A nanofibrous stationary phase with fiber diameters of 150–225 nm and a thickness of ca. 25 µm was manufactured. Mixtures of water-soluble food dyes were printed on it using a modified office printer, and successfully separated to illustrate the capabilities of such UTLC media. The separation took 8 min for 30 mm and was faster (up to a factor of 2) than on particulate layers. The mean hR_F values ranging from 25 to 90 for the five food dyes were well spread over the migration distance, with an overall reproducibility of 7% (mean %RSD over 5 different plates for 5 dyes). The individual mean plate numbers over 5 plates ranged between 8286 and 22,885 (mean of 11,722 over all 5 dyes). The single mean resolutions R_S were between 1.7 and 6.5 (for the 5 food dyes over 5 plates), with highly satisfying reproducibilities (0.3 as mean deviation of R_S). Using videodensitometry, different amounts separated in parallel led to reliable linear calibrations for each dye (sdv of 3.1–9.1% for peak heights and 2.4–9.3% for peak areas). Coupling to mass spectrometry via an elution head-based interface was successfully demonstrated for such ultrathin layers, showing several advantages such as a reduced cleaning process and a minimum zone distance. All these results underline the potential of electrospun nanofibrous phases to succeed as affordable stationary phase for quantitative UTLC.

Metal-Organic Frameworks for Thin-Layer Chromatographic Applications

Preparation of thin-layer chromatographic (TLC) plates based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as porous stationary phases is described. DUT-67 (DUT = Dresden University of Technology), a zirconium based MOF, was used in combination with a fluorescent indicator as stationary phase for analyzing a small selection of a wide spectrum of relevant analytes. The successful separation of benzaldehyde from trans-cinnamaldehyde and 4-aminophenol from 2-aminotoluene is reported as a model system using optimized eluent mixtures containing acetic acid.

Open-Source-Based 3D Printing of Thin Silica Gel Layers in Planar Chromatography

On the basis of open-source packages, 3D printing of thin silica gel layers is demonstrated as proof-of-principle for use in planar chromatography. A slurry doser was designed to replace the plastic extruder of an open-source Prusa i3 printer. The optimal parameters for 3D printing of layers were studied, and the planar chromatographic separations on these printed layers were successfully demonstrated with a mixture of dyes. The layer printing process was fast. For printing a 0.2 mm layer on a 10 cm × 10 cm format, it took less than 5 min. It was affordable, i.e., the running costs for producing such a plate were less than 0.25 Euro and the investment costs for the modified hardware were 630 Euro. This approach demonstrated not only the potential of the 3D printing environment in planar chromatography but also opened new avenues and new perspectives for tailor-made plates, not only with regard to layer materials and their combinations (gradient plates) but also with regard to different layer shapes and patterns. As such an example, separations on a printed plane layer were compared with those obtained from a printed channeled layer. For the latter, 40 channels were printed in parallel on a 10 cm × 10 cm format for the separation of 40 samples. For producing such a channeled plate, the running costs were below 0.04 Euro and the printing process took only 2 min. All modifications of the device and software were released open-source to encourage reuse and improvements and to stimulate the users to contribute to this technology. By this proof-of-principle, another asset was demonstrated to be integrated into the Office Chromatography concept, in which all relevant steps for online miniaturized planar chromatography are performed by a single device.

Recent trends in electrospinning of polymer nanofibers and their applications in ultra thin layer chromatography

Fabrication of polymer derived electrospun nanofibers by electrospinning as chromatographic sorbent bed for ultra-thin layer chromatography (UTLC) is a very demanding topic in analytical chemistry. This review presents an overview of recent development in the fabrication of polymer derived electrospun nanofibers and their applications to design UTLC plates as stationary phases for on-plate identification and separation of analytes from their mixture solutions. It has been reported that electrospun fiber based stationary phases in UTLC have enhanced separation efficiency to provide separation of analyte mixture in a shorter development time than those of traditional particle-based TLC stationary phases. In addition, electrospun UTLC is cost effective and can be modified for obtaining different surface selectivities by changing the polymer materials to electrospun devices. Electrospun UTLC plates are not available commercially till date and efforts are being rendered for their commercialization. The morphology and diameter of electrospun nanofibers are highly dependent on several parameters such as type of polymer, polymer molecular weight, solvent, viscosity, conductivity, surface tension, applied voltage, collector distance and flow rate of the polymer solution during electrospinning process. Among the aforementioned parameters, solution viscosity is an important parameter which is mainly influenced by polymer concentration. This review provides evidence for the fabrication of UTLC plates containing electrospun polymer nanofibers. Furthermore, the future prospects related to electrospinning and its application in obtaining of different types of electrospun nanofibers are discussed. The present communication is aimed to review the work which appeared during 2009-2014 on the application of polymer derived electrospun nanofibers in ultra thin layer chromatography.

New approach for sensitive photothermal detection of C60 and C70 fullerenes on micro-thin-layer chromatographic plates

In this paper the pulse thermovision (photothermal) detection and quantification methods of C60 and C70 fullerenes are presented. Quantification results are compared with optical and fluorescence measurements. Target components were separated under isothermal conditions (30 °C) on micro-TLC plates (RP18WF254S) using n-hexane as the mobile phase. The principle of described analytical protocol is based on sensitive measurement of the temperature contrast generated within TLC stationary phase and fullerenes spots after white light pulse excitation. It has been demonstrated that observed temperature contrast is mainly driven by the optical properties of fullerenes (UV-vis absorption spectra). Contrary to the commonly applied optical reflection or transmission techniques the proposed thermovision method involves dissipated light. The results of presented experimental work have revealed that both types of quantitative measurements provide similar outcome despite the key differences in the signal origin. However, it has been found that thermovision method was characterized by smaller value of LOD, particularly for C60 molecule. We demonstrated that application of correlation technique to post-acquisition analysis of the sequence of temperature contrast images significantly increase detection limits of fullerenes, even in comparison to fluorescence quenching detection mode. Moreover, the thermal contrast images and particularly, computed correlation image, allow detection of stationary phase layer nonuniformities, including changes in the adsorbent thickness and thermal conductivity. Therefore, invented pulsed thermovision methodology can be additionally used for fast quality screening of home made and commercially available TLC plates.

Miniaturized planar chromatography using office peripherals--office chromatography

Office chromatography (OC) harnesses the novel combination of miniaturized planar separation science and modern print & media technologies. Interdisciplinary knowledge is the essence: Printing of solutions on powerful miniaturized planar separation materials in combination with image capturing and evaluation tools enables an innovative analytical online system. Site-specific printing as lines or areas on defined sections of the layer comprises important steps like application of samples, feeding of the mobile phase as well as supply of the derivatization reagent. Also printing of bioassays can be combined for effect-directed detections and the homogeneous printing of the ultrathin layer itself, enabling tailor-made gradient-layer or multi-layer plates. OC exploits image-giving miniaturized chromatograms being captured and processed with a flatbed scanner or mini-camera. Thus, miniaturized separation materials are the core of OC. Monolithic, electrospun, nanostructured glancing angle deposition and carbon nanotube-templated microfabricated layers or even pillar arrays or polymer brush coated sub-μm silica particles were demonstrated, showing promising results. Layer thicknesses from 50 μm down to few micrometers were explored. A high-throughput capacity is given through the parallel development of as many as possible tiny-printed samples on the separation material. The migration time was reduced to a few minutes and the calculated analysis time per sample lasted few seconds. Considering a substantially reduced solvent consumption at short run times for parallel analysis of numerous samples at the same time, OC is an appropriate analytical technique for green chemistry. OC facilitates the whole planar separation process to be performed with no other equipment but a combined device of printer and flatbed scanner or mini-camera. At the same time, OC can be expected to become a widespread and economical technique with the user-friendliness of high-end office tools, appealing to users.

Uniaxially aligned electrospun cellulose acetate nanofibers for thin layer chromatographic screening of hydroquinone and retinoic acid adulterated in cosmetics

Uniaxially aligned cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers were successfully fabricated by electrospinning and applied to use as stationary phase for thin layer chromatography. The control of alignment was achieved by using a drum collector rotating at a high speed of 6000 rpm. Spin time of 6h was used to produce the fiber thickness of about 10 μm which was adequate for good separation. Without any chemical modification after the electrospinning process, CA nanofibers could be readily devised for screening hydroquinone (HQ) and retinoic acid (RA) adulterated in cosmetics using the mobile phase consisting of 65:35:2.5 methanol/water/acetic acid. It was found that the separation run on the aligned nanofibers over a distance of 5 cm took less than 15 min which was two to three times faster than that on the non-aligned ones. On the aligned nanofibers, the masses of HQ and RA which could be visualized were 10 and 25 ng, respectively, which were two times lower than those on the non-aligned CA fibers and five times lower than those on conventional silica plates due to the appearance of darker and sharper of spots on the aligned nanofibers. Furthermore, the proposed method efficiently resolved HQ from RA and ingredients commonly found in cosmetic creams. Due to the satisfactory analytical performance, facile and inexpensive production process, uniaxially aligned electrospun CA nanofibers are promising alternative media for planar chromatography.

Ultrathin-layer chromatography nanostructures modified by atomic layer deposition

Stationary phase morphology and surface chemistry dictate the properties of ultrathin-layer chromatography (UTLC) media and interactions with analytes in sample mixtures. In this paper, we combined two powerful thin film deposition techniques to create composite chromatography nanomaterials. Glancing angle deposition (GLAD) produces high surface area columnar microstructures with aligned macropores well-suited for UTLC. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) enables precise fabrication of conformal, nanometer-scale coatings that can tune surfaces of these UTLC films. We coated ∼5μm thick GLAD SiO2 UTLC media with <10nm thick ALD metal oxides (Al2O3, ZrO2, and ZnO) to decouple surface chemistry from the underlying GLAD scaffold microstructure. The effects of ALD coatings on GLAD UTLC media were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), gas adsorption porosimetry, and lipophilic dye separations. The results collectively show that the most significant changes occur over the first few nanometers of ALD coating. They further demonstrate independent control of film microstructure and surface characteristics. ALD coatings can enhance complex GLAD microstructures to engineer new composite nanomaterials potentially useful in analytical chromatography.

Aligned electrospun nanofibers for ultra-thin layer chromatography

The fabrication and implementation of aligned electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers as a stationary phase for ultra-thin layer chromatography (UTLC) is described. The aligned electrospun UTLC plates (AE-UTLC) were characterized to give an optimized electrospun mat consisting of high nanofiber alignment and a mat thickness of ~25 μm. The AE-UTLC devices were used to separate a mixture of β-blockers and steroidal compounds to illustrate the properties of AE-UTLC. The AE-UTLC plates provided shorter analysis time (~2-2.5 times faster) with improved reproducibility (as high as 2 times) as well as an improvement in efficiency (up to100 times greater) relative to non-aligned electrospun-UTLC (E-UTLC) devices.

Protein UTLC-MALDI-MS using thin films of submicrometer silica particles

Slides for ultra thin-layer chromatography (UTLC) were made by coating nonporous silica particles, chemically modified with polyacrylamide, as 15 μm films on glass or silicon. Three proteins, myoglobin, cytochrome c and lysozyme, are nearly baseline resolved by the mechanism of hydrophilic interaction chromatography. A plate height as low as 3 μm, with 3900 plates, is observed in 14 mm. Varying silica particle diameter among 900, 700 and 350 nm showed that decreasing particle diameter slightly improves resolution but slows the separation. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-MS of the proteins after separation is demonstrated by wicking sufficient sinapinic acid into the separation medium.