Preparation and Evaluation of Methacrylate-based Monolithic Column for Capillary Liquid Chromatography

A methacrylate-based monolith was fabricated inside the fused-silica capillary,which in situ polymerization is rapidly carried out by microwave irradiation.The reactant solution is composed of butyl-methacrylate(BMA)as a functional monomer,ethylene glycol dimethacrylate(EDMA)as a cross-linking agent,1-propanol,1,4-butanediol and water as porogenic solvents and azobisisobutyronitrile(AIBN)as an initiator.The chromatographic performance of the prepared stationary phases is evaluated using the developed capillary liquid chromatography system with a baseline separation of the model analytes.Furthermore,the porosity is determined using the simple flow method and the morphology is characterized by the scanning electron micrograph,which shows that the prepared monolith is stable,forming in the center of the capillary and adhering to the column inner wall.