TLC plates with aluminium support by MACHEREY-NAGEL GmbH & Co. KG

Besides polyester, aluminium sheets are used as support for TLC ready-to-use layers. We have considerably improved our ALUGRAM® sheets. Because of a thicker aluminium support (about 0.15 mm thick) they are stable and easy to cut. Even a 20 x 20 cm ALUGRAM® TLC sheet has a torsional strength which is almost as good as for a glass plate. And for scanning, too, the background noise of the ALUGRAM® is about as low as for a glass plate.

The layers feature an outstanding adherence, which allows cutting of the sheets to any size desired without fracturing of the layer. For ALUGRAM® sheets a support of plain aluminium foil is coated using the same binder system as for our TLC glass plates. ALUGRAM® sheets can be sprayed or dipped with purely aqueous visualisation reagents without damage to the layer.

With ALUGRAM® precoated sheets, problems might arise when using eluents, which contain high concentrations of mineral acids or concentrated ammonia (which attack the aluminium). In such cases we recommend using our glass plates or polyester sheets. Otherwise ALUGRAM® precoated sheets offer the same advantages as POLYGRAM® sheets, however, with increased temperature resistance (e.g. for charring techniques).

Key features of aluminium sheets ALUGRAM®:
- excellent separation efficiency
- unbreakable but easy to cut
- chemical resistant
- suitable for most solvents
- low in weight and price
- heat resistant

Analytical TLC aluminium sheets:
Silica 60, specific surface (BET) ~ 500 m2/g, mean pore size 60 Å,
specific pore volume 0.75 ml/g, particle size 5 – 17 μm, thickness of layer 0.20 mm