Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

High-Performance Polymer Monoliths For Capillary Liquid Chromatography, Pankaj Aggarwal

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on improving the chromatographic efficiency of polymeric organic monoliths by characterizing and optimizing the bed morphology. In-situ characterization techniques such as capillary flow porometry (CFP), 3-dimensional scanning electron microscopy (3D SEM) and conductivity measurements were developed and implemented to quantitatively characterize the morphology of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) monoliths. The CFP measurements for monoliths prepared by the same procedure in capillaries with different diameters (i.e., 75, 150, and 250 μm) clearly showed a change in average through-pore size with capillary diameter, thus, certifying the need for in-situ measurement techniques. Serial sectioning and imaging of PEGDA monoliths using …