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THE POTENTIAL

With the invention of the monolithic supports a new era of chromatographic separation begun. CIM® monolithic supports are revolutionary chromatographic and bioconversion supports that are based on a highly cross-linked porous monolithic polymer, with well-defined, bimodal pore-size distribution providing excellent separation power and offering exceptional chemical stability and flow characteristics. They are characterized by flow independent resolution separations and a flow independent binding capacity. They exhibit low backpressure, even at very high flow rates. By this, the purification time can be significantly decreased, resulting in a pronounced reduction of the purification process costs.

Definition of chromatographic monoliths - the 4th generation of stationary phases: Monoliths are continuous stationary phases that are cast as a homogeneous column in a single piece and prepared in various dimensions with agglomeration-type or fibrous microstructures. (Iberer, G., Hahn, R., Jungbauer, A. LC-GC, 1999, 17, 998)


Different shapes and sizes of CIM® supports
comparison with a standard chromatographic column (150x4.6 mm ID)

Besides CIM® disk monolithic columns and CIM® tube monolithic columns, monolithic supports can be available in special selected dimensions according to your particular needs.

THE CHALLENGE

The benefits of the monolithic matrix for the separation of biomolecules are numerous. Monoliths are becoming very attractive stationary phases due to their advantageous hydrodynamic characteristics.

SecretsCIM® supports providing dramatic time savings by e.g. extremely fast separationsLong lifetime due to the chemical and mechanical stability of CIM® monolithic supportsHigh binding capacity due to the large surface area of our CIM® monolithic supportspractically unaffected by flow rate - a must for high performance separation methodsenables fast purification and reduces the cost of the process development phaseCIM® supports are easily packed and disks are quickly exchanged in order to compose different chemistry columns. You can even place CIMGEL™ disks in commercial available biocompatible columns

The innovative technology behind CIM® combines the best separation aspects of speed, flow independent dynamic binding capacity, flow independent resolution, high reproducibility, long lifetime combined with easy scale up, compatibility and versatility.

Fast HPLC columns have become more popular with the recent increased focus on high-throughput separations, combinatorial chemical analysis, and LC-MS and LC-MS-MS. Speeding up the analysis time, increasing the throughput and consequently lowering the costs per sample is of tremendous importance in today's laboratories. The monolith technology based supports offer a new approach in making analytical separation run time shorter and costs per sample analysis lower. Furthermore, they are ideal tools for high-troughput screening in research and method development. Beside the speed, easy handling and versatility, especially the possibility of using CLC mode (Conjoint Liquid Chromatography) is making these supports very attractive for routine work.

THE TOOLS

CIM Convective Interaction Media® columns at present comprise disks and tubular constructions containing a poly(glycidylmethacrylate-ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate) or a styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer that is functionalized to make different types of stationary phases. They are available in various chemistries making them suitable for any particular separation or purification demand. These units can be used analytically (CIM® disk monolithic columns) as well as preparatively (CIM® tube monolithic columns). The preparative units (CIM® tube monolithic columns) operate on a principle of radial flow. On both, the preparative and analytical scales, the separation times are considerably reduced. Therefore CIM® monolithic supports should be your first choice for fast separation.

Hydrodynamic characteristics:

  • Since CIM® monoliths are engineered in such a way that there is no void volume between individual segments of the matrix, the mobile phase is driven through the whole volume of the matrix.
  • Components to be separated are conveyed to the active groups located on the surface of the pores by bulk flow of the mobile phase - no diffusion through stagnant zones in closed pores.
  • Since convective transport is a few orders of magnitude faster than diffusive transport, transport between mobile and stationary phase is faster too. Consequently, the column characteristics are less flow dependent.

About CIM® Monolithic Supports

CIM Convective Interaction Media® Monolithic Supports are characterized by many advantageous features including:

  • Extremely fast separation: CIM® monolithic supports provide you with dramatic time savings in your laboratory. If you are looking for a fast separation, CIM® disk monolithic columns should be your first choice as they can complete your separation in a few seconds only!
  • High resolution: The high resolution of CIM® disk monolithic columns is practically unaffected by flow rate.
  • High binding capacity: CIM® disk monolithic columns provide you with a flow independent binding capacity. Approx. 30 mg HSA/mL bed volume can be applied on a CIM® QA support, which is practically unaffected by flow rate.
  • Productivity: CIM® supports combine the advantages of chromatographic columns packed with conventional porous particles in terms of separation power, capacity and sample distribution, and those of membrane technology with regard to convective mass transport. This results in much faster separations, high volumetric throughput and low back pressure.
  • High flow rates at low backpressures: decreases your purification time resulting in a significant reduction of the purification process costs.
  • Excellent recovery of proteins: CIM® supports exhibit low nonspecific binding of biomolecules resulting in excellent recovery.
  • High batch to batch reproducibility: an indispensable condition for successful daily routine work.
  • Simple handling: Using CIM® monolithic supports is so easy. Just place the CIM® disk in the housing and the disk monolithic column is ready to use (MPG 221KB).
  • Compatible with any peristaltic pump or conventional LC/HPLC equipment. CIM® disk monolithic columns can be run at low backpressures and have been designed to run on any high-pressure chromatography system as they contain standard VALCO-type connectors.
  • Exchangeable CIM® supports: all CIM® disks have the same dimensions and, therefore, fit in the same housing. By exchanging the CIM® disks, various CIM® disk monolithic columns can be easily prepared by you. This enables you to perform analyzes in different modes one after the other. Simply carry out fast analyzes with a CIM® QA monolithic column in the ion-exchange chromatography mode and then replace the CIM® QA disk with e.g. a CIM® Protein A disk and continue in the affinity chromatography mode. Separation is so fast that more than 100 injections are possible in one working day!
  • Adjustable column length: working on the laboratory scale has never been so easy! Simply place several CIM® disks (up to 4) in a single housing and the separation resolution and capacity will increase accordingly. Everything is so simple to handle, and an appropriate CIM® disk monolithic column can be tailored to match your particular needs in just a minute - an additional major benefit.
  • Long lifetime: A couple hundred of analyzes can be carried out without any significant change in resolution.
  • Conjoint Liquid Chromatography (CLC): one of the most innovative and advantageous features of the CIM® supports is the possibility of preparing a CIM® CLC disk monolithic column by placing CIM® disks with different active groups into one housing. This enables a single step protein separation and purification with a very low dead volume.

Our CIM® supports are available as: