UTILIZATION OF THE DRY IMPACT BLENDING METHOD TO PREPARE IRREGULARLY SHAPED PARTICLES FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHIC COLUMN PACKINGS

The use of the dry impact blending method to prepare various materials for HPLC column packings that might otherwise be unsuitable is proposed. Crystalline hydroxyapatite (HA) was adapted as a model of a useful but fragile, irregularly shaped material and was embedded on the surface of polyethylene beads by impact blending. The resulting HA composites were evaluated for the crystallinity of the HA, the ability to adsorb and desorb proteins and performance as an HPLC column packing for proteins. Non-specific irreversible adsorption of proteins was observed. This adsorption could be saturated, however, and subsequently the RA composites performed satisfactorily in the HPLC of proteins.