Interest in the use of inorganic materials as column fillings in chromatographic separations for activation analysis arises from this high selectivity which can often be obtained by their use. Furthermore the behavior of most ions in a certain medium is different on different materials, thus providing a simple means to afford group separations by passage through a series of columns filled with proper materials. Automation of such a scheme would be rather simple. This article describes an experimental survey of the behavior of ions in a variety of materials and from different media.