Novel stationary phase for silicon gas chromatography microcolumns

This paper presents the implementation for the first time of a porous SiOCH thin layer as stationary phase for silicon microcolumns for gas chromatography (GC). Deposition of the hybrid layer was obtained by plasma-enhanced-chemical-vapor-deposition (PECVD) with a porogen approach. Conformal and collective coating of the microcolumns was achieved and BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethyl-benzene, o-Xylene) mixture could be separated with a good efficiency. This new process enables to consider a mass production of efficient microcolumns that is needed for the development of miniaturized, low cost, portable GC systems, e.g. for air quality monitoring.