Glucose-based carbon dots-modified silica stationary phase for hydrophilic interaction chromatography

A new stationary phase based on glucose-derived carbon dots-modified on silica (Sil-Glc-CDs) was prepared and applied in hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC). The Sil-Glc-CDs column showed better retention ability and separation selectivity toward polar analytes, including amino acids, saccharides, ginsenosides, antibiotics, nucleosides, and nucleobases when compared with a commercial HILIC column and a home-made glucose-modified silica (Sil-Glc) column. The effect of the organic phase ratio, salt concentration, pH and column temperature on chromatographic retention behavior was investigated. In addition, the column exhibited good stability and column-to-column reproducibility (RSDs 0.80-1.97%, n = 3). Particularly, this column was successfully applied for the determination of the concentration of glucose (2.2 mg mL^-1) and fructose (3.4 mg mL^-1) in the goji berry solution.