Metrosep C3 – 250 IC Column with Unique Carrier Material for Improved Peak Separation with Monovalent and Bivalent Cations

The Metrosep C3 – 250 (6.1010.430) offered by Metrohm is a robust cation column that uses a unique carrier based on a polyvinyl alcohol material. The column shows excellent performance with standard cations and improved peak separation with monovalent and bivalent cations.
The relevant column parameter is referred to as the number of theoretical plates per meter (TP/m).
The Metrosep C3 – 250 reaches 42'000 TP/m for sodium, 51'000 for ammonium and 31'000 for barium, which elutes rather late. The peak shapes obtained with this cation column are perfectly symmetrical and – compared to the silicate carrier material – the separation between sodium and ammonium is significantly improved.
The Metrosep C3's excellent selectivity also allows for the separation of transition metals. As the Metrohm ion chromatographs generally determine cations without chemical suppression, the Metrosep C3 – 250 permits determination of the transition metals together with the alkali and alkaline earth metals.
The column is highly suitable for the separation of Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+, Cs+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+, NH4+, Mn2+, Co2+, Zn2+, Ni2+ in the lower ppb range, with excellent separation between Na+ and NH4+.
Generally low detection limits and the possibility to determine widely differing concentrations prove highly beneficial. The new Metrosep cation column is made of PEEK, its length is 250 mm and
its internal diameter 4 mm.