ABSTRACT
Organic polymers have been introduced as binders but even today, partially dehydrated gypsum is used in over 80% of all thin layer chromatography plates. In thin layer chromatography, the flow of mobile phase depends on the capillary attraction of the solvent between the particles and thus, if the particles are not wetted, there can be little or no flow of mobile phase unless forced flow is employed. The results of R. P. W. Scott and P. Kucera on ODS suggest that a reversed phase produced with just enough silica remaining unreacted to render it wettable with pure water, might make an ideal material for use in thin layer chromatography. The greatest impediment to the successful development of thin layer chromatography in the early days of Thin Layer Chromatography was the lack of an effective “spreader”.
