“Preparative Purification of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes by High Speed Countercurrent Chromatography”  Y. Cai;  Z. H. Yan;  M. Zi; & L. M. Yuan. Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies. (2009) Volume 32, pages 399 – 406

CCC/CPC joined the nanotechnology revolution this year with an article in the Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies that described the separation of three sizes of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes. Solvent system consisting of Chloroform/Methanol/Water in 4:4:2 gave a baseline separation of three sizes of nanotubes at approximately K= 0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 (the actual K values were not reported in the article). Apparently, one of the main challenges in working with these carbon nanotubes is their poor solubility characteristics in solvents. One feature of this article is the resurrection of an often maligned solvent system family that has done a great service to partition chromatography over the years. Another item to note is that advances in separation technology must go hand-in-hand with progress in all physical, chemical, and biological sciences where mixtures are created. Is a CCC/CPC separation of buckeyballs in the future?