Page 149 - Illustrated Pocket Dictionary of Chromatography
P. 149
PISTON 149
Si O OCH 2 CH 3
Surface O H R O
Si O N * N NO 2
O H
Pirkle "type" bonded phase
NO 2
piston A finely machined component of an HPLC pump that
moves into and out from the piston head. Its movement forces
mobile phase flow through the system. Many pistons used in analyti-
cal LCs are constructed from sapphire. For semipreparative and
preparative units stainless steel and ceramic pistons are more
common.
Three different piston-piston seal combinations are shown above. The left and right
sets are for an analytical HPLC system; the middle is from a column-packing pump.
Note that the larger diameter of the center pump will allow for faster flow rates
(displaces more volume per piston stroke).