Seema Garg
The technique of chromatography has undergone tremendous amount of modifications since its discovery. Almost any kind of a given chemical sample can now be separated using this technique. Paper chromatography is one of the widely utilized physiochemical separation method for both, inorganic and organic substances. Traditionally, Paper chromatography technique involved the use of upmarket filter papers of various types, deployed according to the need of the chemist. The focus of my current research is to demonstrate how a sheet of Ivory paper can be utilized for performing paper chromatography.
Ivory paper has conventionally found its use in Charcoal and water colour paintings, but its use in chromatography largely remains unexplored. Ivory paper is known for its evenness and fineness of its grains. Ivory is very dense; its pores are close and compact. Ivory sheets of various thicknesses are easily available in the market at very low costs. The Absence of any coating on an Ivory sheet results in faster movement of solvent from the starting line and therefore helps in attaining an expeditious equilibrium and sharper separation of the solute from the solvent.
Moreover, it has better defined bands, better and faster staining efficiency, higher sensitivity and better handling (due to stronger sheets). Furthermore, the availability of Ivory sheets in varied thicknesses even makes it a good candidate for conducting quantitative analysis as well as paper electrophoresis.
