Properties of a Non-Aromatic Epoxy Polymer-Based Monolithic Capillary Column for μ-HPLC

We report the chromatographic properties of a new type of epoxy polymer-based monolithic capillary column, the Tetrad-C column. The column was prepared by a completely new method—reaction of a tetra-functional epoxy monomer, 1,3-bis(N,N-diglycidylaminomethyl)cyclohexane (trade name Tetrad-C), with a diamine, 4-[(4-aminocyclohexyl)methyl)cyclohexane (BACM). This polymer monolith has no aromatic functional groups reducing chromatographic performance. The columns were carefully observed by scanning electron microscopy and evaluated chromatographically by use of a μ-HPLC system. It was found that morphological control of the epoxy polymer-based monolith was possible simply by changing the polymerization conditions, i.e., the polymerization temperature and/or the relative amounts of porogenic solvent and BACM. Another advantage was that volumetric shrinkage of the tetra-functional epoxy-based monolith during the polymerization reaction was much less than for the tri-functional epoxy-based monolithic (TEPIC) column reported in our previous paper. A Tetrad-C column 200 mm long afforded up to 10,000 plates for alkylbenzenes in reversed-phase-mode. This column can also work in HILIC mode, although the hydrophobicity of the column was greater than that of the TEPIC column. Heat treatment (160 °C for 2 h; to eliminate residual, unreacted, functional groups) had a negligible effect on column performance, indicating the columns were thermally stable.