It is a polar absorbent with slight acidity, enabling it to absorb basic contents in a material that needs separation during chromatography, while also remaining neutral and maintaining its own structure throughout the process.
Silica gel, alumina, and kieselguhr are common stationary phases used in the separation of lipid mixtures by normal-phase chromatography, with silica gel being the most widely used.
Silica Gel 60-120 Mesh size is suitable for gravitational chromatography. This grade has a large particle size and is best for separations without external pressure. It is the most preferred grade to separate or purify compounds mixtures that are simpler.
Silica gel and alumina are highly polar so they interact strongly with polar compounds and solvents, and weakly with nonpolar molecules. The stationary phase is loaded into the column as a slurry with the solvent and is then packed by flowing solvent through the stationary phase.
