Superhydrophilic chromatographic stationary phase with hydrothermal carbon for oligosaccharide separation from Traditional Chinese Medicines

Hydrothermal carbon (HTC) and modified hydrothermal carbon coated silica microspheres were optimized and applied for the separation of phenolic acids, standard saccharides and natural oligosaccharides in the extract of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine (TCM). The materials obtained were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), the BET surface area analysis and the zeta potential. The investigation of the synthesized materials and the purchased amide modified silica stationary phases column was performed with a set of test solutes. Both the synthesized HTC coated silica gel (silica@HTC) and the modified silica@HTC column exhibit excellent hydrophilicity. Notably, the poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) modified silica@HTC column demonstrates superior chromatographic performance in the separation of saccharides. This work showed significant potential in the modification of novel hydrothermal carbon stationary phases for application in separating polar oligosaccharide compositions from TCM extracts and similar sources.