Dry-packed capillary columns for micro HPLC

A dry-packing method has been developed which enables the preparation of packed capillary columns for micro HPLC from 250 μm i.d. tubing and 5 μm packing materials. Pressurized gases, such as hydrogen and argon, were used to transport the packing media, and ethanol or methanol were used as discharge agents. By changing the gas pressure, the packing density could be easily adjusted. It was found that, within experimental limits, the higher the packing density, the greater the column efficiency. Comparison between dry- and slurrypacked columns showed that the former had greatly improved stability; the efficiency of dry-packed columns was about the same as, or even better than, that obtained by slurry-packing.