Planar chromatography is advantageous in various applications, including food, environmental, pharmaceutical, and safety analyses. Sample separations are inherently parallel and require relatively simple equipment, enabling high sample throughput at reduced costs. Recent work on the solvent-free assembly of monolayer particles1 has laid the foundation to propose a novel concept for a miniaturized thin-layer chromatography platform2. The platform is produced by assembling ordered porous silica microsphere monolayers, which can subsequently be used for screening purposes. This concept contributes to sustainability in chromatography by facilitating parallel sample separation, reducing volume consumption, enabling cost-effective layer fabrication, and promoting the feasibility of automation.
Assignment
To realize such a high-throughput planar chromotography or TLC plate, the following tasks are identified:
· Funtionalize the porous silica microspheres for chromatographic separation, e.g., C-18 chains
· Assemble the functionalized particles
· Transfer the monolayer on inert glass substrates, and investigate temperatures to anchor the particles on the glass surface for stability purposes
· Design TLC setup and perform first sample separation and analsys
References
1. Sotthewes, K., Roozendaal, G., Šutka, A. & Jimidar, I. S. M. Toward the Assembly of 2D Tunable Crystal Patterns of Spherical Colloids on a Wafer-Scale. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 16, 12007–12017 (2024).
2. Jimidar, I. S. M., De Waard, M. T. J., Schwack, W., Zhang, B., Desmet, G., Morlock, G. E. Solvent-free rubbing assembly of ordered porous silica microsphere monolayers to miniaturize planar chromatography screening. Journal of Chromatography A, 466306 (2025).