Preparation and evaluation of poly(alkyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) monolithic columns for separating polar small molecules by capillary liquid chromatography

•Methacrylic acid (MAA) was used to increase hydrophilicity of polymeric monoliths.•Fast separation of phenol derivatives was achieved in 5 min using MAA-incorporated column.•Separations of aflatoxins and phenicol antibiotics were achieved using MAA-incorporated column.

In this study, methacrylic acid (MAA) was incorporated with alkyl methacrylates to increase the hydrophilicity of the synthesized ethylene dimethacrylate-based (EDMA-based) monoliths for separating polar small molecules by capillary LC analysis. Different alkyl methacrylate–MAA ratios were investigated to prepare a series of 30% alkyl methacrylate–MAA–EDMA monoliths in fused-silica capillaries (250-μm i.d.). The porosity, permeability, and column efficiency of the synthesized MAA-incorporated monolithic columns were characterized. A mixture of phenol derivatives is employed to evaluate the applicability of using the prepared monolithic columns for separating small molecules. Fast separation of six phenol derivatives was achieved in 5 min with gradient elution using the selected poly(lauryl methacrylate-co-MAA-co-EDMA) monolithic column. In addition, the effect of acetonitrile content in mobile phase on retention factor and plate height as well as the plate height-flow velocity curves were also investigated to further examine the performance of the selected poly(lauryl methacrylate-co-MAA-co-EDMA) monolithic column. Moreover, the applicability of prepared polymer-based monolithic column for potential food safety applications was also demonstrated by analyzing five aflatoxins and three phenicol antibiotics using the selected poly(lauryl methacrylate-co-MAA-co-EDMA) monolithic column.

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