Merck Millipore

Chromolith HPLC Columns

Chromolith HPLC Columns

Speed Meets Performance.

In contrast to conventional particle-packed columns, Merck’s Chromolith® HPLC columns are based on state-of-the-art monolithic silica technology. Produced from a continuous piece of porous silica using a sol-gel process, Chromolith® rod columns possess a defined bimodal pore structure with macro- and mesopores in the micro- and nanometer range. The high permeability and porosity of the silica skeleton and the resulting low back pressure allow for more flexible flow rates compared to particulate columns. As a result, Chromolith® HPLC columns enable high-throughput analysis without loss of separation efficiency or peak capacity.

The revolutionary bimodal pore structure of Chromolith® HPLC columns provides a unique combination of macropores and mesopores.The mesopores form the fine porous structure (average pore size 13 nm) and create the large uniform surface area on which adsorption takes place, thereby enabling high-performance chromatographic separation. The macropores (average size 2 μm) allow rapid flow of the mobile phase at low pressure.

Features and Benefits

1. Speed of analysis

• Separations two times faster at half the column back pressure with Chromolith® compared to 5 μm columns
• Higher sample throughput – separations up to nine times faster if required
• Fast column re-equilibration between analyses

2. Flow flexibility and flow gradients

• Quick response to the flow change
• Wide optimal flow ranges

3. Improved HPLC system security: robustness, reliability and versatility

• Significantly increased column lifetime
• Reduced maintenance on HPLC pump and injector seals
• Reduced need for sample preparation as columns are very resistant to blocking, even with biological samples

4. Column length no longer pressure limited

• Very high separation efficiency by column coupling
• Variety of column lengths available for samples of different complexities

5. Cost savings due to increased sample throughput 

• Justifies the expense of a method revalidation within one month

6. Chromolith® HPLC columns are ideally suited for use with all standard HPLC instruments

• Cladded Chromolith® columns in PEEK are very easy to use and to handle