Whatman® chromatography papers are made from specially selected, cotton cellulose. They are rigorously quality controlled to ensure consistent performance during use and to maintain uniformity within the grade.
General specifications: Flow rates given are linear per 30 minutes.| Grade | Flow rate, mm per 30 minutes | Thickness, mm | Material | Description |
| 1Chr | 130 | 0.18 | Pure cellulose | General purpose, with smooth surface. Good resolution for general analytical separations. |
| 3Chr | 130 | 0.36 | Pure cellulose | A medium thickness paper for general applications with medium or heavy solute loadings. Frequently used for separation of inorganic compounds and for electrophoresis. |
| 3MMChr | 130 | 0.34 | Pure cellulose | A medium thickness paper used extensively for general chromatography, electrophoresis and blotting. |
| 4Chr | 180 | 0.21 | Pure cellulose | Fastest of the thin papers. Recommended for routine and/or repetitive chromatography when loadings are relatively low. With smooth surface. Highly suitable where speed is key and very high resolution is not required. |
| 17Chr | 190 | 0.92 | Pure cellulose | A thick and highly absorbent paper with a very high flow rate. Suitable for the heaviest loadings and ideal for preparative paper chromatography and electrophoresis. |
| DE81 | 95 | 0.20 | Ion exchange cellulose | A thin (0.20 mm) DEAE cellulose paper – a weakly basic anion exchanger with diethylaminoethyl functional groups. The ion exchange capacity is 1.7 µeq/cm2. For use with reverse transcriptase assays and DNA polymerase. |
| P81 | 125 | 0.23 | Ion exchange cellulose | A thin cellulose phosphate paper. Strong cation exchanger of high capacity. Ion exchange capacity is 18.0 µeq/cm2. For use with protein kinase assay with peptide substrates. |
| SG81 | 110 | 0.27 | Silica gel loaded cellulose | A novel paper combining cellulose and large pore silica gel. Not charged, but binds polar molecules from less polar solvent. Suitable for separations in which both partition and adsorption are important, including the separation of phospholipids, steroids, phenols and dyes. |