Fused Core / Core-Shell

The special feature of this technology is that the silica-based packaging material is neither non-porous nor fully porous. Instead, the particles consist of a solid core and an overlying porous shell, which acts as the actual separating layer. This shortens the diffusion paths of the analytes in the stationary phase and reduces the dead volume of the entire column. This has a positive effect on the A, B and C terms of the Van Deemter equation, which reduces the overall band broadening and increases the possible separation performance.

With the available 2.7µm core-shell phases, separation efficiencies in the range of sub-2µm particles are possible, whereby the resulting back pressure is in the range of the fully porous material of the same size. These solid-core materials are therefore equally suitable for HPLC and UHPLC systems. Further advantages are the very small particle size distribution of the packing materials and the high peak capacities that can be achieved. The disadvantage of these phases is their lower loadability compared to fully porous materials.

To date, a large number of Fused-Core™ phases with different modifications, particle and pore sizes have been developed, enabling fast and high-resolution separations.