Sub-second liquid chromatographic separations by means of shear-driven chromatography

Utilizing the concept of shear-driven chromatography, we have been able to realize reversed-phase LC separations in flat rectangular nano-channels coated with a C-8 monolayer and being as thin as 100 nm. At this scale, the separation kinetics are strongly enhanced, as is witnessed by the extremely short time (<0.1 s) needed to separate a mixture of coumarin dyes. The observed plate numbers are still relatively small, because the experiments were conducted in ultra-short columns (less than or equal to1 mm) and under injection band width-limiting conditions. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.