Comparison of Miniaturized and Conventional Asymmetrical Flow Field-Flow Fractionation (AF4) Channels for Nanoparticle Separations

Abstract

Abstract:The performance of a miniaturized channel for the separation of polymer and metal nanoparticles (NP) using Asymmetrical Flow Field-Flow Fractionation (AF4) was investigated and compared with a conventional AF4 system. To develop standard separation methods, experimental parameters like cross flow, gradient profile and injection time were varied and optimized. Corresponding chromatographic parameters were calculated and compared. Our results indicate that the chromatographic resolution in the miniaturized channel is lower, whereas significantly shorter analyses time and less solvent consumption were obtained. Moreover, the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) obtained from hyphenation with a UV-detector are obviously lower than in a conventional channel, which makes the miniaturized channel interesting for trace analysis.

Recent Advances in Separation-Based Techniques for Synthetic Polymer Characterization

“…Besides the mathematical approaches, changes in AF4 hardware for improvement in analysis time and speed were recently investigated. Although a miniaturized channel can shorten analysis time and lower solvent consumption, the chromatographic resolution in the miniaturized channel is lower . On the other hand, a proof-of-concept study demonstrated that retention time, selectivity and resolution can be increased in AF4 by introduction of microstructured ultrafiltration membranes at the collection wall .…”