Performance of columns packed with the new shell particles, Kinetex-C18.

The performance of the new Kinetex-C(18) column was investigated. Packed with a new brand of porous shell particles, this column has an outstanding efficiency. Once corrected for the contribution of the instrument extra column volume, the minimum values of the reduced plate heights for a number of low molecular weight compounds (e.g., anthracene and naphtho[2,3-a]pyrene) were between 1.0 and 1.3, breaking the legendary record set 3 years ago by Halo-C(18) packed columns. The liquid-solid mass transfer of proteins (e.g., insulin and lyzozyme) is exceptionally fast on Kinetex-C(18) much faster than on the Halo-C(18) column. The different contributions of dispersion and mass transfer resistances to the column efficiency were determined and discussed. The possible reasons for this extremely high column efficiency are discussed.