Preparation and chromatographic performance of polymer-based anion exchangers for ion chromatography: A review

• Methods of the preparation of anion exchangers based on aromatic polymers are considered.
• Application of anion exchangers for separating anions in single-column and suppressed IC is shown.
• Advantages and disadvantages of each type of stationary phase architecture are discussed.
• Examples and applications of commercial columns for IC based on the main 4 architectures are given.

In the last decade the developments in the field of ion chromatography (IC) were aimed at increasing the efficiency, sensitivity and rapidity of analysis, as well as on improving separation selectivity. Since selectivity and efficiency to the large extent depend on the surface chemistry of the stationary phase, the development of novel anion exchangers remains one of the priority tasks in modern IC. The exact chemistry of commercially available resins is not known and not many literature data devoted to the procedures of preparing anion exchangers for IC have become available in the last 10–15 years. However, the knowledge about the surface chemistry of anion exchangers can provide understanding of the trends in selectivity and efficiency changes, as well as help with the choice of the stationary phase type suitable for solving a particular analytical task. The current review is devoted to the methods of preparing anion exchangers based on polystyrene-divinylbenzene (PS-DVB) and ethylvinylbenzene-divinylbenzene (EVB-DVB) for IC of inorganic and small organic anions and is aimed at demonstrating the improvement of their performance over the years, which was brought by the development of the new types of stationary phase architecture.

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