Preparation pore size effect

Kikukawa T, Kuraoka K, Kawabe K, Yamashita M, Fukumi K, Hirao K, Yazawa T. Stabilities and pore size effect of proton-condncting organic-inorganic hybrid membranes prepared through surface modification of porous glasses. J Membr Sci 2005 259 161-166. 

It is less well known, but certainly no less important, that even with carbon dioxide as a drying agent, the supercritical drying conditions can also affect the properties of a product. Eor example, in the preparation of titania aerogels, temperature, pressure, the use of either Hquid or supercritical CO2, and the drying duration have all been shown to affect the surface area, pore volume, and pore size distributions of both the as-dried and calcined materials (34,35). The specific effect of using either Hquid or supercritical CO2 is shown in Eigure 3 as an iHustration (36). 

Fig. 7. The effect of preparation on the pore size distribution (a), titanium dispersion (b), and the activity for epoxidation of cyclohexene (c) of titania—siUca containing 10 wt % titania and calcined in air at 673 K. Sample A, low-temperature aerogel Sample B, high-temperature aerogel Sample C, aerogel.

A special use for meltblown olefin fiber is in filtration media such as surgical masks and industrial filters (78). The high surface area of these ultrafine filament fibers permits preparation of nonwoven filters with effective pore sizes as small as 0.5 p.m. 

The effects of the concentration of divinylbenzene on pore-size distribution and surface areas of micropores, mesopores, and macropores in monosized PS-DVB beads prepared in the presence of linear polymeric porogens have been studied (65). While the total surface area is clearly determined by the content of divinylbenzene, the sum of pore volumes for mesoforms and macropores, as well as their pore-size distribution, do not change within a broad range of DVB concentrations. However, the more cross-linked the beads, the better the mechanical and hydrodynamic properties. 

Based on the requirements of the separation, media of suitable pore size, particle size, and surface properties are selected as well as column dimensions and column material. In some cases a suitable combination of media type and column dimensions may be available as a prepacked column. In most cases, this is a more expensive alternative to preparing the column yourself but will provide a consistent quality as assured by the manufacturing and testing procedures of the vendor. The consistent quality may be critical in obtaining reproducible results and may thus be a cost-effective solution. Also, the fact that smaller particle-sized media are more difficult to pack and require special, and expensive, equipment has resulted in that gel filtration media of small particle size, e.g. smaller than 15 /zm, are predominantly supplied as prepacked columns. 

Molecular sieves (zeolites) are artificially prepared aluminosilicates of alXali metals. The most common types for gas chromatography are molecular sieve 5A, a calcium aluminosilicate with an effective pore diameter of 0.5 nm, and molecular sieve 13X, a sodium aluminosilicate with an effective pore diameter of 1 nm. The molecular sieves have a tunnel-liXe pore structure with the pore size being dependent on the geometrical structure of the zeolite and the size of the cation. The pores are essentially microporous as the cross-sectional diameter of the channels is of similar dimensions to those of small molecules. This also contrilsutes to the enormous surface area of these materials. Two features primarily govern retention on molecular sieves. The size of the analyte idiich determines whether it can enter the porous... 

A (3 fibril formation an identifiable nucleating species has yet be isolated. Direct observation has been made difficult by the small size of the (3 peptide, which has an effective hydrodynamic radius of 4 nm [98-100], and by the apparent low abundance of nucleating species due to the low probability of their formation. Such species would be formally akin to an enzyme transition state that is usually kinetically inferred or sometimes trapped with certain kinds of inhibitor. In disaggregated, ultrafiltered (20 nm pore size) preparations, less than 1% of the molar peptide concentration is inferred to be present as seeds or nuclei determined by the kinetics of fibril formation [101]. 

The major design concept of polymer monoliths for separation media is the realization of the hierarchical porous structure of mesopores (2-50 nm in diameter) and macropores (larger than 50 nm in diameter). The mesopores provide retentive sites and macropores flow-through channels for effective mobile-phase transport and solute transfer between the mobile phase and the stationary phase. Preparation methods of such monolithic polymers with bimodal pore sizes were disclosed in a US patent (Frechet and Svec, 1994). The two modes of pore-size distribution were characterized with the smaller sized pores ranging less than 200 nm and the larger sized pores greater than 600 nm. In the case of silica monoliths, the concept of hierarchy of pore structures is more clearly realized in the preparation by sol-gel processes followed by mesopore formation (Minakuchi et al., 1996). 

The polymerization temperature, through its effects on the kinetics of polymerization, is a particularly effective means of control, allowing the preparation of macroporous polymers with different pore size distributions from a single composition of the polymerization mixture. The effect of the temperature can be readily explained in terms of the nucleation rates, and the shift in pore size distribution induced by changes in the polymerization temperature can be accounted for by the difference in the number of nuclei that result from these changes [61,62]. For example, while the sharp maximum of the pore size distribution profile for monoliths prepared at a temperature of 70 °C is close to 1000 nm, a very broad pore size distribution curve spanning from 10 to 1000 nm with no distinct maximum is typical for monolith prepared from the same mixture at 130°C [63]. 

Figure 5.5 shows the variation of the pore size distribution as a function of cycles of surface-modification-based N2 adsorption isotherms. The pore size decreases with the modification cycle number. The reduction of the mesopore size for each cycle should be about twice the single-layer thickness. Accordingly, the effective singlelayer thickness is about 6 to 7 A based on the above BET measurements. This value is close to those estimated from the frequency changes of a quartz crystal balance for ultrathin fihns prepared by the surface sol-gel process on 2-D substrates." " ... 

Catalysts are porous and highly adsorptive, and their performance is affected markedly by the method of preparation. Two catalysts that are chemically identical but have pores of different size and distribution may have different activity, selectivity, temperature coefficient of reaction rate, and response to poisons. The intrinsic chemistry and catalytic action of a surface may be independent of pore size, but small pores appear to produce different effects because of the manner and time in which hydrocarbon vapors are transported into and out of the interstices. 

Sander et al. [63] investigated the effect of microparticulate silica pore size on the properties of solution-polymerized Cig stationary phases and observed both an increase in bonding density and shape recognition for wider pore (>120 A) silica. A size-exclusion mechanism was proposed, in which the reaction of the silane polymer on the surface is enhanced for wide pores and reduced for narrow pores. Polymeric Ci8 phases prepared on substrates with narrow pores exhibited monomeric-like chromatographic properties. This effect may be the result of an increase in competitive surface linkage with the less sterically hindered monomers that coexist with the bulkier oligomers that have polymerized in the reaction solution (Figure 5.13). 

Membranes with extremely small pores ( < 2.5 nm diameter) can be made by pyrolysis of polymeric precursors or by modification methods listed above. Molecular sieve carbon or silica membranes with pore diameters of 1 nm have been made by controlled pyrolysis of certain thermoset polymers (e.g. Koresh, Jacob and Soffer 1983) or silicone rubbers (Lee and Khang 1986), respectively. There is, however, very little information in the published literature. Molecular sieve dimensions can also be obtained by modifying the pore system of an already formed membrane structure. It has been claimed that zeolitic membranes can be prepared by reaction of alumina membranes with silica and alkali followed by hydrothermal treatment (Suzuki 1987). Very small pores are also obtained by hydrolysis of organometallic silicium compounds in alumina membranes followed by heat treatment (Uhlhom, Keizer and Burggraaf 1989). Finally, oxides or metals can be precipitated or adsorbed from solutions or by gas phase deposition within the pores of an already formed membrane to modify the chemical nature of the membrane or to decrease the effective pore size. In the last case a high concentration of the precipitated material in the pore system is necessary. The above-mentioned methods have been reported very recently (1987-1989) and the results are not yet substantiated very well. 

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