Adsorption
The process of interaction between the solute and the surface of an adsorbent. The forces involved can be strong such as hydrogen bonds, or weak such as van der Waals forces. For silica gel, the silanol group is the driving force for adsorption, and any solute functional group that can interact with this group can be retained by liquid-solid chromatography on silica.
There’s something so grounding about tackling a project like this, especially when so much of our daily lives is spent staring at screens. It really made me think about how we value things so much more when we’ve put our own patience and problem-solving into making them work. The little imperfections at the end always end up carrying the best stories anyway.