Chromatography Forum

hi
Does SEC column get affected by long term storage in Water??
(someone told me that the silica can shrink when stored in water for long terms,although i dont agree with it)

Polymeric materials, maybe; silica, no. A more realistic concern is that microbes will grow in a column stored in water. To retard this process, store the column longterm in a refrigerator (but not a freezer!), with the ends plugged.

Maybe the person who said that silica shrinks in water meant to say that it dissolved? I have no evidence that this ever happened to my columns, but many people in this forum have claimed just that (I am talking about water or water containing solvents, not aqu. acid). Putting the column in the fridge should also slow dissolution, if it happens.

I agree with Andy and HW Mueller. What can happen is that the hydrophilic endcapping is "reduced". Shelf life studies say that 2 years are ok. Last year I had an issue on my table were the silica SEC column was 10 years at the customers lab. After doing the cleaning procedure, the column performance was still excellent, both number of theoretical plates and assymetry factor matched the initial QC criteria. Please follow the instructions of the manufacturer. My recommendation is to start rinsing the column with a high ammount of organic solvent (as stated in the operating procedure and column care instructions from the manufacturer), to reduce viscosity, at a very low flow rate. Just to be on the save side. You can check the year of production of the column by providing the serial number to the manufacturer. They can track and find out when the column was produced. Good luck