Monolithic supports have become the subject of extensive study in the past
years. Despite their advantageous features and many successful chromatograp
hic applications in the analytical scale, only a very few examples of large
r volume monoliths were described. In the case of GMA-EDMA monoliths, this
can be attributed to the fact that due to the exothermic polymerization a p
ronounced temperature increase inside the monolith significantly affects th
e structure. The temperature increase depends on the thickness of the monol
ith, and consequently, there is an upper limit that allows the preparation
of a unit with a uniform structure. In the present work, we have analyzed a
heat release during the polymerization and have derived a mathematical mod
el for the prediction of the maximal thickness of the monolithic annulus ha
ving a uniform structure. On the basis of the calculations, two annuluses o
f different diameters were polymerized and merged into a single monolithic
unit with a volume of 80 mt. In addition, a special housing was designed to
provide a uniform flow distribution in the radial direction over the entir
e monolith bed. It was shown that such a monolithic column exhibits now-ind
ependent separation efficiency and dynamic binding capacity up to flow rate
s higher than 100 mL/min. The separation and loading times are in the range
of a few minutes. The pressure drop on the column is linearly dependent on
the flow rate and does not exceed 2.5 MPa at a now rate of 250 mL/min.