PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF CROSS-LINKED POLYACRYLATE STATIONARY PHASES FOR OPEN-TUBULAR LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

Polyacrylate films containing a lauryl moiety were fabricated on about 12 mum I.D. fused silica capillaries by in-situ photopolymerization of acrylates. Relatively thick films up to 1 mum were obtained by the technique. The films were tested as retentive layers for reversed phase open tubular liquid chromatography (OTLC). Due to the presence of the incorporated lauryl moiety in the layer considerable retention could be achieved for polar compounds with aqueous mobile phases. The efficiency of the prepared columns approximates to the theoretical value. The polyacrylate films appear to be extremely stable even under strong basic conditions. The films swell considerably in the presence of nonpolar solvents resulting in more favourable retention and a significant improvement of the chromatographic performance.