Chromatography Forum

I’m not experienced in work with size exclution column, so I’d like to ask for your help. What solution (will just water be sufficient) should I wash / stabilize SEC column before first use. Is it enough to wash the column after use (mobile phase – buffer) with water only or should I use another solution?

The exact conditioning/initiation of the column migth be somewhat product dependent (you didn't mention the type and the make) but generally these columns are stored with aqueous mixture containing some (20 - 30 %) ethanol for conservation purposes. So you'll need to flush the storage liquid out prior to equilibration and actual chromatography. It will be a big suprise to me if it's not OK to do the flushing with pure water (some 3 - 4 column volumes) and then equilibrate with your working buffer.
After use you can store it in water if it's a short term starage (a couple of days) and water/ethanol mixture for long term storage.

Best Regards

As danko said, it depends a lot on the type of column and on the type of samples (proteins? polymers?). It's always dangerous to reason from the general to the specific; I would suggest that you ask the column vendor about their recommendations for that specific column.

It's TSKgel G4000SW column, in the notice to users there is only information about washing solution after analysis and storage solution.
Thank you for your help

Best Regards

This is from the column brochure for a Beckman Ultraspherogel SEC column which I believe is similar to the TSK-SW columns.
"Thoroughly flush the column with 20 column-volumes of fresh, HPLC-grade water and run 10 column-volumes of water or buffer (pH 3-7) containing 0.05% sodium azide to inhibit bacterial growth. Do not use halide salts in the storage buffer."
Remember that sodium azide is toxic and use due precautions