skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Shell particles, trials, tribulations and triumphs

Journal Article · · Journal of Chromatography A
 [1];  [2]
  1. ORNL
  2. University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK)

The concept of pellicular particles was imagined by Horvath and Lipsky fifty years ago. They were initially intended for the analysis of macromolecules. Later, shell particles were prepared. The rational behind this concept was to improve column efficiency by shortening the pathways that analyte molecules must travel and, so doing, to improve their mass transfer kinetics. Several brands of superficially porous particles were developed and became popular in the 1970s. However, the major improvements in the manufacturing of high-quality, fully porous particles, that took place in the same time, particularly by making them finer and more homogeneous, hampered the success of shell particles, which eventually disappeared. Recently, the pressing needs to improve analytical throughputs forced particle manufacturers to find a better compromise between the demands for higher column efficiency that require short diffusion paths of analyte molecules in columns and the need for columns that can be operated with the conventional instruments for liquid chromatography, which operate with moderate column back-pressures. This lead to the apparition of a new generation of columns packed with shell particles, which bring chromatographic columns to a level of efficiency undreamed of a few years ago. This evolution is reviewed, the reason that motivated it, and the consequences of their success are discussed.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1041483
Journal Information:
Journal of Chromatography A, Vol. 1218, Issue 15; ISSN 0021-9673
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English