polymer fibers having a novel cross - sectional geometry are used as stationary phase materials for liquid chromatography separations . fibers of 20 to 50 micrometer diameters have surface - channel structures extending their entire lengths . bundles of fibers having this novel cross - sectional geometry are packed in columns . different polymer compositions permit the “ chemical tuning ” of the separation process . channeled fibers composed of polystyrene and polypropylene have been used to separate mixtures of polyaromatic hydrocarbons , pb - containing compounds and fatty acids . use of channeled fibers allows a wide range of liquid flow rates with very low backing pressures . applications in hplc , cap - lc , prep - scale separations , analytical separations , single fiber separations , waste remediation / immobilization , extraction of selected organic molecules / ions from solution , purification of liquid streams , selective extraction of cell matter and bacteria from growth media , and immobilization of cell matter and bacteria are envisioned .