Characterisation of nanoparticulate systems by hydrodynamic chromatography

Particle size and particle size distribution can have a fundamental effect on the physical properties of colloidal dispersions. For many systems the measurement of average particle size is not sufficient, the presence of different size populations will have a strong influence on properties and could be related to the production process. Hydrodynamic chromatography (HDC) provides a method for the separation of polymers in solution or particles in suspension based on their size. In a packed column, the separation takes place in the inter-particle channels and the elution order is from large to small, analogous to gel permeation chromatography. The dynamic range of packed column HDC is from molecular size up to particles of greater than 1 mum. New instrumentation which can be used to determine the particle size distribution of a range of colloidal dispersions by packed column HDC is described. Data to support accuracy and precision of average particle size determination is presented as well as a number of case studies to illustrate the applicability of the technique to samples with polydisperse or multi-modal particle size distributions. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.