Agglomerated carbon based phases for anion exchange chromatography

Carbon-clad zirconia particles have been converted into ion exchange media through addition of charged latexes after covalent modification of the carbon surface. A variety of methodologies were investigated to introduce a negative charge to the carbon surface in the form of either sulfonate or oxygen containing functionalities (e.g. hydroxyl or carboxylate). Short analytical sized columns (35 mm × 4 mm I.D.) were packed with modified 2 μm nonporous carbon clad zirconia. Addition of the latex particles after the initial packing produced almost double the efficiency for the system compared to adding the latexes before packing. The optimized system could separate mixtures of common inorganic anions with efficiencies greater than of 41,000 plates/m and retention reproducibility of <2% RSD.