Superficially porous particles columns for super fast HPLC separations

Superficially porous silica particles columns (SPSPCs) are manufactured by different companies. The most common have the brand names Halo, Ascentis Express and Kinetex. These columns provide super fast, sharp peaks and moderate sample loading and back pressure. These are available in different chemistries such as C₈, C₁₈, RP Amide and Hilic. Normally, the silica gel particles have 2.7 and 1.7μm total and inner solid core diameters with 0.5μm thick outer porous layer, 90Å pore size and 150m²/g surface area. They have been used for the separation and identification of low and high molecular weight compounds. The present article describes the state of the art of superficially porous silica particles based columns with special emphasis on their structures, mechanisms of separation, applications and comparison.