Chromatographic Columns Evolve Rapidly: Current Trends of this Evolution

摘要

After decades of relative stability, the technology of chromatographic columns began evolving a few years ago. The driving force for this current trend is the need for faster analyses that has been triggered by a considerable increase in the number of samples requiring analysis, related to advances in chemical, biochemical and physical sciences and to economic requirements. The current pace of evolution is exciting. The majority of 20~(th) century HPLC columns were 150 to 300 mm long, 1/4 inch o.d. stainless steel tubes packed with 5 (mu)m porous particles. They were operated at room temperature with inlet pressures between 100 and 400 bar. There were reports of columns with 2 or 4 mm i.d., but there were few advances in the technology such as we see presently.