molecules-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Exploring the Applications of Chromatographic Methods in Material Analysis

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2026) | Viewed by 4000

Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Science and Engineering, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, Netherlands
Interests: physical chemistry materials and nanomaterials; surfaces and interfaces; chemical engineering; mathematical modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Understanding the surface and interface properties of materials and nanomaterials is of capital importance to predict the behavior of their surfaces when they are in contact with other solid substrates. Inverse gas chromatography (IGC) is the best technique for achieving the determination of the London dispersive surface energy, the free interaction energy of adsorption, and Lewis’s acid–base parameters of solid materials such as polymers, copolymers, oxides, metals, and carbon materials.

It is a powerful technique that allows for the analysis of the surfaces of materials for numerous industrial applications, including polymers, copolymers and their blends, polymer films, cellulose fibers, metals and metal oxides, minerals, clay minerals, silicas, porous materials, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), metal organic frame (MOF) materials, carbon fibers, nanomaterials, food products, pharmaceuticals, fuel cells, petroleum residues, resins, abrasive products, and surfactants.

The application of new chromatographic methods and models will constitute an advanced route to better quantify the thermodynamic surface properties of materials. The effect of the temperature on the transition phenomena in polymers and the recovery fraction of adsorption of polymers on other materials can be highlighted using the IGC technique at finite or infinite concentrations. Other surface techniques such as BET adsorption, DRX, NMR, FTIR, and the contact angle technique will be highly significant for further surface characterization of surfaces and interfaces to strengthen the experimental results obtained by means of inverse gas chromatography.

Prof. Dr. Tayssir Hamieh
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • surface energy
  • adsorption
  • Lewis’s acid–base parameters
  • materials and nanomaterials
  • biomaterials
  • drugs
  • pharmaceuticals
  • carbon fibers
  • oxides
  • metals
  • polymers
  • copolymers
  • composites
  • crystals
  • plasticizers
  • explosives
  • nanoenergetic materials
  • technology
  • thermodynamics

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 2081 KB  
Article
Exploring the Suitability of High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography for the Analysis of Drug Admixtures in Total Parenteral Nutrition Using Caffeine, Ibuprofen and Midazolam as Model Drugs
by K. M. Yasif Kayes Sikdar, Md Khairul Islam, Tomislav Sostaric, Lee Yong Lim, Marcus Femia and Cornelia Locher
Molecules 2026, 31(16), 2904; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules31162904 - 20 Aug 2026
Viewed by 196
Abstract
Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is a nutritional therapy in children when oral or enteral feeding is not possible, fails to meet nutritional requirements or is contraindicated due to underlying clinical conditions. There are many cases where children who are given one or more [...] Read more.
Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is a nutritional therapy in children when oral or enteral feeding is not possible, fails to meet nutritional requirements or is contraindicated due to underlying clinical conditions. There are many cases where children who are given one or more than one intravenous medication also need TPN. In order to minimise vein access, these medications are commonly administered via a Y-site IV connection where they admix with TPN, implying a need for compatibility studies before admixing the medication into the nutritional fluid. In this study, previously developed and validated HPTLC methods were verified for their suitability to evaluate the concentrations of three commonly used medications in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), namely caffeine citrate, ibuprofen arginine, and midazolam hydrochloride. Silica gel 60 F254 HPTLC plates were used as the stationary phase, and acetone: toluene: chloroform (4:3:3, v/v/v), toluene: methanol: ethyl acetate: glacial acetic acid (5.5:3.2:1:0.3, v/v/v/v), and cyclohexane: toluene: diethylamine (7:1.5:1.5, v/v/v) with one drop of 25% ammonia solution were used as mobile phases. The compatibility of the three drugs in their respective TPN admixtures was then assessed at various time points over a 24 h period using these HPTLC methods. Each drug admixed in TPN was directly applied onto the HPTLC plates without further sample pre-treatment. Paired Two-One-Sided Test (TOST) equivalent testing revealed that the concentrations of the selected drugs in TPN were unchanged over the monitoring period (p > 0.05), confirming chemical compatibility. These findings were in line with previous studies that concluded compatibility and reported similar RF and LOD/LOQ values (1.95/5.90 ng/band for caffeine, 252.22/764.30 ng/band for ibuprofen and 10.82/32.78 ng/band for midazolam; R2 ≥ 0.99). As no additional sample pre-treatment was required, HPTLC-based compatibility studies of drug–TPN admixtures may simplify the analytical workflow, making them a cost-effective and time-efficient approach to compatibility testing. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 4834 KB  
Article
Rapid Chromatographic and Spectroscopic Analysis of Extracted Raw Propolis
by Darinka Cvetković, Maja Somogyi Škoc, Ernest Meštrović and Iva Rezić Meštrović
Molecules 2025, 30(24), 4729; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30244729 - 10 Dec 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 961
Abstract
Propolis is a complex mixture of natural compounds, including resinous terpenoids, flavonoids, aromatic acids, and essential oils, and has strong antimicrobial, antifungal, and antioxidant properties. The chemical composition of propolis determines its properties and strongly depends on a wide variety of different plant [...] Read more.
Propolis is a complex mixture of natural compounds, including resinous terpenoids, flavonoids, aromatic acids, and essential oils, and has strong antimicrobial, antifungal, and antioxidant properties. The chemical composition of propolis determines its properties and strongly depends on a wide variety of different plant sources, as well as other climate and environmental parameters. In order to determine the main compounds, in this study, we applied an integrated analysis of propolis by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) to characterize and compare the phytochemical profiles of selected bioactive materials in raw propolis. TLC served as a rapid, cost-effective, and highly visual technique to separate and identify key constituents, including terpenoids, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds in propolis, without a need for further precleaning steps after performing ultrasonic extraction. Complementary methods, such as FTIR spectroscopy, were employed to validate and quantify the active components detected through TLC screening. In addition, the UV-VIS method revealed the solubility of raw propolis in different solvents, after testing for coffee ring effects. The results confirmed that the complex structure of the raw sample can be more thoroughly revealed by two-dimensional TLC, which enables not only rapid and verifiable qualitative results but also detection of overlapping spots. Moreover, by comparing the results with data from the literature, not only can particular chemical compounds be efficiently determined by TLC but also the regional origin of samples. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

20 pages, 5493 KB  
Article
Exploring the Application of Advanced Chromatographic Methods to Characterize the Surface Physicochemical Properties and Transition Phenomena of Polystyrene-b-poly(4-vinylpyridine)
by Tayssir Hamieh
Molecules 2024, 29(20), 4812; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29204812 - 11 Oct 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2018
Abstract
The linear diblock copolymer polystyrene-b-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-P4VP) is an important copolymer recently used in many applications such as optoelectronics, sensors, catalysis, membranes, energy conversion, energy storage devices, photolithography, and biomedical applications. (1) Background: The surface thermodynamic properties of PS-P4VP copolymers are of [...] Read more.
The linear diblock copolymer polystyrene-b-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-P4VP) is an important copolymer recently used in many applications such as optoelectronics, sensors, catalysis, membranes, energy conversion, energy storage devices, photolithography, and biomedical applications. (1) Background: The surface thermodynamic properties of PS-P4VP copolymers are of great importance in many chemical and industrial processes. (2) Methods: The inverse gas chromatography (IGC) at infinite dilution was used for the experimental determination of the retention volumes of organic solvents adsorbed on copolymer surfaces as a function of temperature. This led to the variations in the free energy of interaction necessary to the evaluation of the London dispersive and polar acid–base surface energies, the polar enthalpy and entropy, the Lewis acid–base constants, and the transition temperatures of the PS-P4VP copolymer. (3) Results: The application of the thermal Hamieh model led to an accurate determination of the London dispersive surface energy of the copolymer that showed non-linear variations versus the temperature, highlighting the presence of two transition temperatures. It was observed that the Lewis acid–base parameters of the copolymer strongly depend on the temperature, and the Lewis base constant of the solid surface was shown to be higher than its acid constant. (4) Conclusions: An important effect of the temperature on the surface thermodynamic properties of PS-P4VP was proven and new surface correlations were determined. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop