Evaluation of sulfobetaine-type zwitterionic stationary phases for ion chromatographic separation using water as a mobile phase

Ion chromatographic separation of inorganic ions (anions and cations) was investigated by using three kinds of sulfobetaine type surfactants (CHAPS, C12SB, and C14SB) as the stationary phases, which were coated by hydrophobic adsorption on the ODS column. In the present separation system, pure water was used as a mobile phase. Since the amount of surfactant adsorbed on the ODS surface significantly influenced the retention behaviors of inorganic ions, the amounts of the sulfobetaine-type surfactants adsorbed were estimated by the breakthrough procedure. The maximum amounts of CHAPS, C12SB and C14SB adsorbed were 0.40, 0.87 and 1.08 mmol, respectively. It was elucidated from the chromatograms of inorganic ions that the retention behavior of inorganic anions was directly related to the surface charges arising from the adsorbed surfactants. The large surface charge was effective for the efficient separation of inorganic ions in water elution. In addition, their retention behavior was strongly affected by the hydrophobicity of the adsorbed surfactants as well as the ionic functional groups of the surfactants which produced the charged surface. The elution order of inorganic anions was correlated with the Hofmeister series. This suggests that the hydration energies of the ions play important roles in separation in the water elution system.