Comparative study of the performance of spherical and angular silica and alumina supports in the 1-10-μm size range

Summary Columns packed with four different sets of well characterized packings, spherical silica, angular silica, spherical alumina and angular alumina, varying in mean particle diameter ( d p ) between 1 and 10 μm, were compared. On these columns, the chromatographic permeability ( K 10 ), the column resistance parameter (Φ) and the reduced plate height-velocity dependences were determined under identical and comparable conditions. Discrepancies were found for K 10 and Φ depending on the type of packing and the particle shape. The courses of the h versus v plot, however, were nearly identical for packings with d p > 4 μm, showing a minimum at v ≅ 5 and h = 1.5–2.5 for solutes of k ′ ≅ 0.2 …