Preparation of a novel hybrid organic–inorganic monolith for the separation of lysozyme by high performance liquid chromatography

A novel hybrid organic–inorganic monolith for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was firstly developed by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) by a simple and rapid method, in which vinyl ester resin was used as the monomer, natrium bisulfurosum was used both as organic adjunct and coadunate initiator to alter the activity of the free radical in the process of polymerization and then to control the molecular mass. The conditions of polymerization were optimized. The chemical group of the monolith was assayed by infrared spectra method, the morphology of monolithic material was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the pore size distribution was determined by a mercury porosimeter. Finally, the monolith was used to separate lysozyme (Lys) from chicken egg white with good resolution and reproducibility that were obtained in a short time (10 min) by HPLC. In addition, the influences of buffer concentration and pH value on elution have been investigated and the hybrid monolith was used to separate benzene and its homologs from the mixture.