Chromatography Forum

Hey,

I am using a G4k and G3k TOSOH colums for SE and have come across a problem of the colums breaking down and not working properly. This has happened to several columns which were all new. I think it might have something to do with zwittergent in the mobile phase? Does anyone know if zwittergent works fine with TOSOH columns or not? Thanks.

What does TOSOH's technical support say?

TOSOH tech support is saying that generally they do not recommend using any detergents in the columns, but if you have to then you should stick to the same detergent. They say that as soon as a detergent is used, the column becomes permanently changed because particles can get stuck in the pores and can never fully be flushed out. Once you use the column for a specific detergent then it should only be used with that same detergent after that. Also before we started using Zwittergent we had been using SDS (0.1%) and the columns lasted for much longer (more than double the amount of injections). The zwittergent we are using now is 1% so that might also be a factor??