LC columns and accessories (Chromatography consumables catalog)

Significance of Comprehensive Chromatography Consumables

Chromatography hinges on more than just pumps, detectors and columns. High-quality consumables such as sample preparation kits, vials, fittings and guard cartridges play a critical role in ensuring reproducible separations, maximizing sensitivity and protecting expensive columns from fouling. As laboratories pursue higher throughput, lower detection limits and more challenging sample matrices—ranging from proteomics to environmental trace analysis—the right consumables become essential components to guarantee data quality and instrument uptime.

Portfolio Overview

Thermo Fisher Scientific offers a broad catalog of chromatography consumables that support every stage of an LC or GC workflow. Key categories include:

• Sample Preparation: Solid-phase extraction cartridges, SPE disks, microextraction products and automated µSPE kits for dirt removal and analyte concentration.
• Sample Handling: Certified low-adsorption autosampler vials, closures, septa and well plates engineered for minimal extractables, leachables and compound loss.
• Low-Flow LC: Nano- and micro-flow columns and fittings optimized for proteomics, intact protein and top-down/bottom-up analyses.
• BioLC: High-resolution columns for monoclonal antibodies, proteins, glycan mapping and biopharma variant profiling.
• Standard LC: High-performance HPLC/UHPLC columns—including solid-core, fully porous, mixed-mode and polymer chemistries—plus ultra-pure accessories.
• GC: Capillary columns, inlet liners, phase-specific consumables and gas management components for gas chromatographers.
• Selection Tools: Online guides and cross-reference utilities to streamline consumable selection based on performance needs or legacy part numbers.

Key Consumable Categories and Their Impact

• Guard Cartridges and Filters: Protect analytical columns from particulates, extending column life and maintaining peak shape.
• Fingertight Fittings: Zero-dead-volume stainless steel or biocompatible tubing connections simplify plumbing and preserve chromatographic efficiency under UHPLC pressures (up to 1,500 bar).
• Injector Valves and Sample Loops: Low-dispersion, biocompatible injectors and precision loops ensure reproducible injection volumes from sub-µL to mL scales for both analytical and preparative applications.
• Column Heaters and Chillers: Wrap-around devices like HOT POCKET and COOL POCKET maintain precise column temperatures for improved selectivity and method robustness.
• Reagents: High-purity ion-pairing acids, derivatization agents, HPLC-grade solvents and hydrolysis compounds guarantee consistent baselines, sensitive detection and minimal contamination.

Practical Benefits

By integrating certified consumables:

• Data Quality Improves: Minimized dead volume, low extractables and tailored chemistries drive sharper peaks and stable baselines.
• Reproducibility Rises: Lot-to-lot consistency and standardized materials reduce method transfer challenges across instruments and labs.
• Costs Decline: Extended column lifetimes and fewer re-runs lower operational expenses over time.
• Workflows Accelerate: Selection guides, pre-qualified kits and plug-and-play fittings simplify setup and method development.

Future Trends and Opportunities

As demands grow for higher throughput, deeper proteome coverage, real-time online extractions and greener solvent use, consumables are evolving accordingly. Emerging directions include:

• Smaller-format and automated SPE cartridges for high-speed online sample preparation.
• Advanced polymeric and hybrid media tailored for supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC).
• Integration of microfluidic consumables and 3D-printed flow paths for minimal dead volume and ultra-low sample requirements.
• Biodegradable and renewable-source materials to reduce environmental footprint in high-throughput laboratories.

Conclusion

Optimizing chromatography requires more than just the right column or detector. A well-engineered portfolio of consumables—from SPE kits to UHPLC fittings, conditioned vials to injectors—lays the foundation for robust, reproducible and cost-efficient separations. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s connected consumables ecosystem accelerates method development, safeguards column investments and ensures confidence in every analytical result.