Quadrex ULTRA-ALLOY™ STAINLESS STEEL CAPILLARY COLUMNS

The inertness of Ultra ALLOY™ stainless steel columns matches that of fused silica and is derived from a patented, multi-step manufacturing process which utilizes a five-layered pretreatment of the inner surface of the stainless steel.

• High temperature stability
• Highly inert deactivated inner surface
• Exceptional mechanical durability-cannot break!
• Perfect for field use or high vibration situations
• Can be tightly coiled (3 inches) for portable GCs
• Ideal for use in small, field portable GCs

Each layer is chemically stable at elevated temperatures and has equal to, if not superior, mechanical properties to that of the steel tubing. The layers are less than 0.01 microns thick and are chemically bonded together. Stationary phases are then easily bonded to this stable inert surface resulting in superbly deactivated columns which compare directly to fused silica columns.

Figure 1. SEM images of Ultra-Alloy tubing surface, before deactivation (left) and after deactivation (right).

Figure 2. Compare with this SEM photo of stainless steel tubing with a layer of fused silica

Ultra-ALLOY™ capillary columns offer unsurpassed inertness and mechanical durability and are suitable replacements for fused silica capillary columns. Unlike other stainless steel columns on the market, Ultra-ALLOY™ columns are not lined with fused silica (see photo above) which can crack or flake-off when flexed or bent thus exposing active sites. As a result, the Ultra-ALLOY™ columns can be tightly coiled to accommodate even the smallest of GC oven designs.

Ultra ALLOY™ columns are available in the standard 0.25mm and 0.53mm I.D.s The tables below list the available bonded phases, films and maximum temperatures. Deactivated Ultra ALLOY™ tubing is also available for transfer lines and guard columns.

Ultra-ALLOY is a trademark of Frontier Labs, Japan