Improved spiral disk assembly for high-speed counter-current chromatography

The spiral disk for type-J high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) has been improved by placing short segments of PTFE (tetrafluoroethylene) tubing into the channel at regular intervals. The best results were obtained with a four-channel spiral column using 600 spacers, which significantly improved stationary phase retention and partition efficiency in both n-butanol-acetic acid-water (4:1:5) and poly(ethylene glycol) 1000-dibasic phosphate polymer phase systems. Based on these findings, a bead-chain spiral disk was designed and its performance tested with a type-J HSCCC centrifuge. This new column design substantially improved the separation of both dipeptide and protein samples in terms of stationary phase retention and partition efficiency. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.