High temperature and highly selective stationary phases of ionic liquid bonded polysiloxanes for gas chromatography

Due to the special performance of “dual nature” and synthetic flexibility, ionic liquids (ILs) have been an attractive research subject of stationary phases for gas chromatography (GC). In this work, a novel ionic liquid (IL) bonded polysiloxane ([PSOMIM][NTf2]) with anion of bis-trifluoromethanesulfonylimide (NTf2−) was synthesized, and another one with chloride anion ([PSOMIM][Cl]) was also prepared for the purpose of comparison. The thermo-stability of the product was evaluated by thermogravimetric (TG) test and the result indicated that [PSOMIM][NTf2] did not decompose slightly until 380 °C. Then the solvation behaviors of the ILs were characterized using solvation parameter model. Subsequently, [PSOMIM][NTf2] and [PSOMIM][Cl] were used as stationary phases to prepare capillary columns for GC, respectively. The column efficiency of [PSOMIM][NTf2] column was 4776 plates/m (k = 3.64 ± 0.08, naphthalene), and that of the other one was 3170 plates/m (k = 2.84 ± 0.11, naphthalene). The selectivity of the novel stationary phases for analytes, including Grob reagent, aromatic positional isomers was further evaluated. Furthermore, the chromatograms of n-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on [PSOMIM][NTf2] column were compared with that on [PSOMIM][Cl] column. [PSOMIM][NTf2] stationary phase also exerted good selectivity for fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and aromatic amines.