Size-exclusion chromatography using core-shell particles

Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) is an indispensable technique for the separation of high-molecular weight analytes and for determining molar-mass distributions. The potential application of SEC as second dimension separation in comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography demands very short analysis times. Liquid chromatography benefits from the advent of highly efficient core-shell packing materials, but because of the reduced total pore volume these materials have so far not been explored in SEC. The feasibility of using core-shell particles in SEC has been investigated and contemporary core-shell materials were compared with conventional packing materials for SEC. Columns packed with very small core-shell particles showed excellent resolution in specific molar-mass ranges, depending on the pore size. The analysis times were about an order of magnitude shorter than what could be achieved using conventional SEC columns. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.