According to the base of TLC plates, there are glass TLC plates, aluminum TLC plates, and plastics one.
What are the differences of them? Let’s see the chart below:
| Support/Backing | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Glass | • Rigid • Transparent • Economical (reusable) • High chemical resistance • Most commonly used support • Good heat stability for charring | • Fragile • Cannot be easily cut into desired size • Heavy – high transport costs • Thick (>1.0 mm) – about 5x more shelf space than aluminum or plastic-backed plates • Backing highly susceptible to breakage(potential safety issue) |
| Aluminum Foil | • Easy to handle/safe – resistant to breakage • Can be easily cut to desired dimensions with scissors • Thin (——0.15 mm) – minimal storage space • Lightweight – lower shipping costs • Solvent resistance • Strong adsorbent layer adherence – good for use witheluents containing high concentrations of water • Good heat stability • Can be stored in lab notebook | • Backing is not reusable • Not as chemically resistant as glass to reagents such as mineral acids and concentrated ammonia |
| Plastic (Polyester – PET) | • Easy to handle/safe – resistant to breakage • Can be easily cut to desired dimensions with scissors • Thin (——0.2 mm) – minimal storage space • Lightweight – lower shipping costs • Solvent resistance • Can be stored in lab notebook | • Backing is not reusable • Lower heat stability – charring must be done at lower temperatures than with glass • Flexible – adsorbent layer may be more susceptible to cracking |
As a professional silica gel manufacturer, we produce the TLC plate by using our own silica.
We can offer preparative glass TLC plate, analysis glass TLC plates and aluminum analysis TLC plates.
All size are available, if you need it, contact with us!
