Methods and apparatus for making a chromatography column

1. A method of depositing a stationary phase in a tube to form a chromatography column, the method comprising:

providing a tube comprising an electrically conductive interior surface and having a composition within the tube, the composition comprising a stationary phase precursor and at least one of an electrolyte and a reactant precursor; and

electrochemically reacting the reactant precursor or the stationary phase precursor to form a stationary phase in the tube.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the stationary phase precursor is deposited on the interior surface of the tube at a uniform thickness along the length of the tube.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the stationary phase precursor is deposited on the interior surface of the tube at a deposition gradient as a function of the length of the tube with the stationary phase being thicker at one end of the tube relative to the thickness of the stationary phase at the opposite end of the tube.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the composition undergoes an electrochemical reaction of the stationary phase precursor as a function of the length of the tube to form a stationary phase having a concentration gradient.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

electrically connecting the electrically conductive interior surface of the tube to a device that provides an electric current or electrical potential;

fluidly connecting the tube to a reservoir of the electrolyte; and

activating the device to apply the electric current or electrical potential to the tube to start the electrochemically reacting step.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the electrolyte includes a strong acid, a strong base, or a salt.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the electrolyte includes an aqueous electrolyte.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the stationary phase precursor includes a phenol, a phenol derivative, or combinations thereof.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the phenol derivative is selected from the group consisting of an o-dimethyl phenol, an o-diisopropyl phenol, an o-ditertbutyl phenol, and combinations thereof.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the composition further comprises at least one of a stabilizer, a cross-linker, and a deactivation agent.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising connecting the tube to a reservoir of the composition contained therein for fluid communication therewith.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the reservoir of the electrolyte further comprises at least one of a reference electrode, a counter electrode, and a secondary working electrode.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the interior surface of the tube includes a metal or a metal alloy.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein electroplating includes utilizing a waveform of applied electric potential as a repeating linear cycle, as a repeating square wave, or as a combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the reactant precursor includes a sol-gel catalyst precursor and the stationary phase precursor includes a sol-gel precursor, and the electrochemically reacting step includes electrochemically reacting the sol-gel catalyst precursor to form a sol-gel catalyst that catalyzes the formation of a sol-gel stationary phase.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the sol-gel catalyst is an acid catalyst.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the sol-gel catalyst is derived from water.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the tube includes a surface area-increasing member within the tube; wherein the stationary phase precursor is deposited on the surface area-increasing member.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the stationary phase is thicker at a first end of the tube and is thinner at a second end of the tube.