Curtain flow chromatography ('the infinite diameter column') with automated injection and high sample through-put : the results of an inter-laboratory study

An inter-laboratory study was undertaken to test the analytical performance of curtain flow chromatography columns. Two laboratories undertaking the analysis independently tested the curtain flow columns under the same chromatographic conditions, using the same test solutes. In total three different types of HPLC systems were employed during these tests. Irrespective of the laboratory or the type of HPLC system employed, the outcome in the analytical performance for these curtain flow columns followed the same trends. The differences in the data sets were related to the type of the HPLC system employed, specifically the dead-volume of the system and amount of noise generated in baseline data.The outcome from the study was that calibration curves derived from analyses undertaken on curtain flow columns were linear. The limits of quantification and detection were almost three times lower when curtain flow columns were used than when standard columns where used. The best results were obtained when the HPLC system was designed such that it could deliver a synchronised solvent flow through both the peripheral and central column entry ports.