title: Are sub-2 μm particles best for separating small molecules? An alternative.
abstract: Superficially porous particles (SPP) in the 2.5-2.7 μm range provide almost the same efficiency and resolution of sub-2 μm totally porous particles (TPP), but at one-half to one-third of the operating pressure. The advantage of SPP has led to the introduction of sub-2 μm SPP as a natural extension of this technology. While short columns of both SPP and TPP sub-2 μm particles allow very fast separations, the efficiency advantages of these very small particles often are not realized nor sufficient to overcome some of the practical limitations and disadvantages of such small particles. Advantages and disadvantages of columns packed with sub-2 μm particles are described for comparison with the characteristics of larger particles. The authors conclude that while sub-2 μm particles have utility in research studies, columns of larger particles are often better suited for most applications. A suggested 2.0 μm superficially porous particle diameter retains many of the advantages of sub-2 μm particles, but minimizes some of the disadvantages. The characteristics of these new 2.0 μm SPP are described in studies comparing some present sub-2 μm SPP commercial columns for efficiency, column bed homogeneity and stability.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials Technology, Inc., 3521 Silverside Rd., Ste. 1-K, Quillen Bldg, Wilmington, DE 19810 USA.
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: DeStefano
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials Technology, Inc., 3521 Silverside Rd., Ste. 1-K, Quillen Bldg, Wilmington, DE 19810 USA.
authors.forename: Barry E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Boyes
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials Technology, Inc., 3521 Silverside Rd., Ste. 1-K, Quillen Bldg, Wilmington, DE 19810 USA. Electronic address: sschuster@advanced-materials-tech.com.
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials Technology, Inc., 3521 Silverside Rd., Ste. 1-K, Quillen Bldg, Wilmington, DE 19810 USA.
authors.forename: William L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Miles
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials Technology, Inc., 3521 Silverside Rd., Ste. 1-K, Quillen Bldg, Wilmington, DE 19810 USA.
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kirkland
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000295:instrumentation*; D064347:Microscopy, Electrochemical, Scanning; D010316:Particle Size; D016062:Porosity; D011312:Pressure
keywords: 2.0μm Fused-Core(®) particles; Advantages and disadvantages of sub-2μm particles; Column stability; Core shell particles; HPLC columns; Superficially porous particles