Following are the advantages of SEC -
- Minimum volume of
eluate is required for separation of large molecules from
smaller ones.
- Various solutions can be applied without interfering with the
filtration process, all while preserving the biological activity of
the particles to be separated.
- In SEC, well-defined short narrow bands are formed, which imply
good
sensitivity.
- Sample loss doesn't
occur because solute doesn't react with stationary
phase.
Following are the disadvantages-
- Since the time scale of the chromatogram is short, only a
limited number of
bands can be accomodated.
- In general, there has to be a 10% difference in molecular
mass to have a good resolution.