Preparation and Evaluation of Ultra-Long Open-Tubular Polymeric Porous Layer Capillary Columns with Modified MIL-100(Fe) for Liquid Chromatography

Open-tubular capillary liquid phase chromatography column with polymer/metal organic frameworks (MOFs) composites as separating medium combines the advantages of high specific surface area of MOFs and low back pressure of open tubular column. In this work, unitra-long capillary column (3 m) was coated with poly(vinylbenzyl chloride-co-divinylbenzene) by in-situ polymerization and polydopamine (pDA) was modified on polymer layer by chemical bonding, then MIL-100(Fe) was coated on pDA with layer-by-layer self-assembly method to prepare the novel open tube capillary column (p(VBC/DVB)@pDA@MIL-100(Fe) OTCC). Fast chromatographic separation was achieved on this column, with cooperative selectivity of p(VBC/DVB) and MIL100(Fe). Toluene and its homologous series were baseline separated in 8 min. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols and anilines were all separated well in 4 min. The organic polymer layer and MIL-100(Fe) provided multiple interactions with aromatic compounds and thus the separation selectivity could be easily adjusted, which had obvious advantages for the separation of aromatic compounds and their derivatives. The relative standard deviation (RSD) values (run-to-run, day-to-day, column-to-column, n = 3) of retention time of phenylamines were less than 3%, showing excellent repeatability of the column. The preparation methods provided new idea for the application of other MOFs as stationary phase modifier.