Monolithic column in gas chromatography

Monolithic columns invented in chromatographic praxis almost 40 years ago gained nowadays a lot of popularity in separations by liquid chromatographic technique. At the same time, application of monolithic columns in gas chromatography is less common and only a single review published by Svec et al. [1] covers this field of research. Since that time a lot of new findings on application and properties of monolithic columns in gas chromatography have been published in the literature deserving consideration and discussion. This review considers preparation of monolithic columns for GC, an impact of preparation conditions on column performance, optimization of separation conditions for GC analysis on monolithic columns and other important aspects of preparation and usage of monolithic capillary columns in GC. A final part of the review discusses the modern trends and possible applications in the future of capillary monolithic columns in GC. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.