Characterization of polymer monolithic stationary phases for capillary HPLC

Monolithic capillary columns have been prepared in fused-silica capillaries by radical co-polymerization of ethylene dimethacrylate and butyl methacrylate in the presence of porogen solvent mixtures containing various concentration ratios of 1-propanol, 1,4-butanediol, and water with azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator of the polymerization reaction. The through pores in organic polymer monolithic columns can be characterized by equivalent permeability particle size, and the mesopores with stagnant mobile phase by equivalent dispersion particle size. Increasing the concentration of propanol in the polymerization mixture diminishes the pore volume and size in the monolithic media and improves the column efficiency, at a cost of decreasing permeability. Organic polymer monolithic capillary columns show similar retention behaviour to packed alkyl silica columns for compounds with different polarities characterized by interaction indices, I-X1 but have different methylene selectivities. Higher concentrations of propanol in the polymerization mixture increase the lipophilic character of the monolithic stationary phases. Best efficiencies and separation selectivities were found for monolithic columns prepared using 62-64% propanol in the porogen solvent mixture. To allow accurate characterization of the properties of capillary monolithic columns, the experimental data should be corrected for extra-column contributions.