Comparison of twin-cell centrifugal partition chromatographic columns with different cell volume

• Comparison of centrifugal partition chromatographic (CPC) and centrifugal partition extraction (CPE) column.
• Columns with twin-cells of different size and number of cells per disk.
• Stationary phase retention and column efficiency evaluated with ARIZONA system and ATPS.
• CPC superior in difficult separations with biphasic systems with short settling times.
• CPE column suitable for protein separations using ATPS.

Two twin-cell centrifugal partition chromatographic columns (SCPC 250 and SCPE-250-BIO, Armen Instrument, France) with the same column volume but different cell size and number were compared in terms of stationary phase retention and column efficiency. The columns were tested with two types of solvent systems: a commonly used organic solvent based biphasic system from the ARIZONA solvent system family and a polymer/salt based aqueous two phase system (ATPS). The efficiency of the columns was evaluated by pulse injection experiments of two benzenediols (pyrocatechol and hydroquinone) in the case of the ARIZONA system and a protein mixture (myoglobin and lysozyme) in the case of the ATPS. As result of high stationary phase retention, the column with the lower number of larger twin-cells (SCPE-250-BIO) is suitable for protein separations using ATPS. On the other hand, due to higher column efficiency, the column with the greater number of smaller cells (SCPC 250) is superior for batch elution separations performed with standard liquid–liquid chromatography organic solvent based biphasic systems.