Capillary electrochromatography in columns packed by centripetal forces

Important factors in packing capillary columns for capillary electrochromatography (CEC) are emphasized and a new method to pack capillary columns is introduced. The new method uses centripetal forces to drive the packing material into the column. Advantages of this approach are that it offers a high impact velocity, avoids large pressure drops during packing, and provides for packing more than one capillary at once. Under normal conditions, using a commercially available CE unit, and performing detection after the packing bed, capillary columns packed by this new approach showed separation efficiencies similar to those obtained by pressure and electrokinetic packing. Columns with inner diameters between 31 and 75 μm packed by the new approach showed similar performance.