Peek HPLC System

[Eric Moore]

How important is an inert HPLC system in IEX chromatography? If one has a Waters Alliance HPLC, is it possible to convert to an "all Peek" system? What if one were to just convert all the "easy-to-reach" tubing to Peek, ignoring the hard-to-reach, and the valves, etc?

Thank you.

[danko]

If reconfiguring the flow way from steel to peek was essential for your application, why should the "easy-to-reach" parts be enough?

How important is an inert HPLC system in IEX chromatography?

In some cases it’s kind of important. For instance, if your mobile phase contains chloride ions they will “attackâ€

[Mark Tracy]

If you are doing cation exchange, the corrosion products deposit on the column. Some proteins are sensitive to metal contamination, some don't care at all. The insidious thing is that everything checks out OK on a nice new system, but the degradation is slow, then 2-3 years later, you wonder what is going wrong.

If you decide to keep your steel system, keep it clean, and passivate the metal surfaces on a regular basis. Use the piston seal wash. Also replace steel frits with something else.