Malvern Instruments has published work demonstrating how the Sysmex FPIA-3000 system provides a reference method for validating particle size measurements of HPLC column materials.
The Sysmex FPIA-3000 is an image-analysis-based particle characterisation system.
Malvern's work shows how the system provides a reference method for validating particle size measurements of the porous silica materials used in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) columns.
The application note detailing this is available on the Malvern website.
Particle size of column materials is critical in both preparative and analytical HPLC.
The majority of applications require particles between 3um and 30um, but the high porosity of the silica particles presents a challenge for size measurement.
Electrical sensing zone (ESZ) is the established method, and is reliable provided the instrument is mass-calibrated to compensate for the porosity of the particles.
Characterising silica particles using automated image analysis provides confirmation of the mass calibration supporting EZS measurements, while delivering further additional imaging data on the particles under observation.
