Surface silica

One of the drawbacks of chromatography with normal phase silica is the strong and changing interactions the silica surface can undergo with the mobile phase and feed components. In contrast to reversed-phase adsorbents, where the interaction takes place with the homogeneously distributed alkyl-chains bonded to the surface, the silica surface has a lot of energetically different active groups such as free. 

A second adsorbent characteristic that should be controlled is the water content of the silica. The water content can vary from 0 to 10 wt.%. As silica is a well-known desiccant (drying agent) care has to be taken with adsorbent types that are adjusted with low amounts of water. Here, signiflcant uptake of water from the air might 

For this procedure, the column should be flushed with 10 column volumes of a mixture of dichloromethane, glacial acetic acid, and 2,2-dimethoxypropane (68 2 30 v/v/v). Later, the column should be subsequently washed with 20 column volumes of dichloromethane and 20 column volumes of n-heptane. 

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Assume is -25 mV for a certain silica surface in contact with O.OOlAf aqueous NaCl at 25°C. Calculate, assuming simple Gouy-Chapman theory (a) at 200 A from the surface, (b) the concentrations of Na and of Cr ions 10 A from the surface, and (c) the surface charge density in electronic charges per unit area. 

Rutland M W and Parker J L 1994 Surface forces between silica surfaces in cationic surfactant solutions adsorption and bilayer formation at normal and high pH Langmuir 0 1110-21... 

As will be seen shortly, an analogous result is obtained with the silica-water system, where the BET monolayer capacity of water calculated from the water isotherm is roughly equal to the hydroxyl content of the silica surface. 

Fig. 1. Silanol groups of amorphous silica surface, where 0= Si Q — O and = H (a) isolated, (b) vicinal, and (c) geminal.

The mesoporous ordered silicas of different type represent the new generation of materials with unique properties. The discovery of these materials became basis for creation of new catalysts, adsorbents, sensors and supporter for other molecules. The most important way of the modifying physical and chemical properties of mesopurous silicas consist in organic components incorporation on the silica surface as part of the silicate walls or their insertion within channels of the mesopores. This ensured that interest in synthesis and study of functionalized mesoporous materials shai ply grew. In spite of it, these materials are studied insufficiently. 

Unloaded silica does not recover HPA from aqueous solution. The surface of silica gel modified with quarternary ammonium salts (QAS) gets anion-exchange properties. The aim of the work is the elaboration of solid-phase reagents on the base of ion associate of HPA with QAS immobilized onto silica surface for the determination of phosphoms and organic reductants. Heterocyclic (safranine and lucigenine) and aliphatic (trinonyloctadecyl ammonium iodide and tetradecyl ammonium nitrate) compounds have been examined as QAS. 

The express method of phenolic compounds determination was designed. It is based on heterogeneous azo-coupling reaction of phenols, which different extracts of fresh raw material contain, with aryldiazonium salts grafted on the silica surface. We can carry out phenols analysis on-site, as formation of immobilized azocompounds leads to a drastic change in the sorbent s color. Thus, we pui pose a new method, that allows to indicate herb phenols in aqueous and non-aqueous medias and to compare it with a well-known Folin-Ciocalteau method. 

Synthetic chiral adsorbents are usually prepared by tethering a chiral molecule to a silica surface. The attachment to the silica is through alkylsiloxy bonds. A study which demonstrates the technique reports the resolution of a number of aromatic compoimds on a 1- to 8-g scale. The adsorbent is a silica that has been derivatized with a chiral reagent. Specifically, hydroxyl groups on the silica surface are covalently boimd to a derivative of f -phenylglycine. A medium-pressure chromatography apparatus is used. The racemic mixture is passed through the column, and, when resolution is successful, the separated enantiomers are isolated as completely resolved fiactions. Scheme 2.5 shows some other examples of chiral stationary phases. 

The above data were obtained on a polymeric bonded phase and not a brush phase. The so-called brush phases are made from monochloro-sxlants, (or other active group) and, thus, the derivative takes the form of chains attached to the silica surface [2]. The bulk phases are synthesized from polyfunctional silanes in the presence of water and, thus, are cross linked and form a rigid polymeric structure covering the silica surface. These two types of phases behave very differently at low concentrations of moderator. 

Silica gel, per se, is not so frequently used in LC as the reversed phases or the bonded phases, because silica separates substances largely by polar interactions with the silanol groups on the silica surface. In contrast, the reversed and bonded phases separate material largely by interactions with the dispersive components of the solute. As the dispersive character of substances, in general, vary more subtly than does their polar character, the reversed and bonded phases are usually preferred. In addition, silica has a significant solubility in many solvents, particularly aqueous solvents and, thus, silica columns can be less stable than those packed with bonded phases. The analytical procedure can be a little more complex and costly with silica gel columns as, in general, a wider variety of more expensive solvents are required. Reversed and bonded phases utilize blended solvents such as hexane/ethanol, methanol/water or acetonitrile/water mixtures as the mobile phase and, consequently, are considerably more economical. Nevertheless, silica gel has certain areas of application for which it is particularly useful and is very effective for separating polarizable substances such as the polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and substances... 

When the silica surface is in contact with a solvent, the surface is covered with a layer of the solvent molecules. If the mobile phase consists of a mixture of solvents, the solvents compete for the surface and it is partly covered by one solvent and partly by the other. Thus, any solute interacting with the stationary phase may well be presented with two, quite different types of surface with which to interact. The probability that a solute molecule will interact with one particular type of surface will be statistically controlled by the proportion of the total surface area that is covered by that particular solvent. 

It should be noted that, due to the strong polarity of the hydroxyl groups on the silica, the initial adsorption of the ethyl acetate on the silica surface is extremely rapid. The individual isotherms for the two adsorbed layers of ethyl acetate are shown in Figure 8. The two curves, although similar in form, are quite different in magnitude. The first layer, which is very strongly held, is complete when the concentration of ethyl acetate is only about l%w/w. At concentrations in excess of l%w/w, the second layer is only just being formed. The formation of the second layer is much slower and the interactions between the solvent molecules with those already adsorbed on the surface are much weaker. 

From the point of view of solute interaction with the structure of the surface, it is now very complex indeed. In contrast to the less polar or dispersive solvents, the character of the interactive surface will be modified dramatically as the concentration of the polar solvent ranges from 0 to l%w/v. However, above l%w/v, the surface will be modified more subtly, allowing a more controlled adjustment of the interactive nature of the surface It would appear that multi-layer adsorption would also be feasible. For example, the second layer of ethyl acetate might have an absorbed layer of the dispersive solvent n-heptane on it. However, any subsequent solvent layers that may be generated will be situated further and further from the silica surface and are likely to be very weakly held and sparse in nature. Under such circumstances their presence, if in fact real, may have little impact on solute retention. 

It diagramatically represents a silica surface in contact with a low concentration of chloroform in n-heptane where the surface is partly covered with chloroform, the remainder covered with n-heptane. The solute molecules can either rest on the surface of the chloroform layer or on the surface of the layer of adsorbed n-heptane. 

Figure 11. The Different Types of Solute Interaction that can Occur on a Silica Surface Containing a Solvent Bi-layer...

Where there are multi-layers of solvent, the most polar is the solvent that interacts directly with the silica surface and, consequently, constitutes part of the first layer the second solvent covering the remainder of the surface. Depending on the concentration of the polar solvent, the next layer may be a second layer of the same polar solvent as in the case of ethyl acetate. If, however, the quantity of polar solvent is limited, then the second layer might consist of the less polar component of the solvent mixture. If the mobile phase consists of a ternary mixture of solvents, then the nature of the surface and the solute interactions with the surface can become very complex indeed. In general, the stronger the forces between the solute and the stationary phase itself, the more likely it is to interact by displacement even to the extent of displacing both layers of solvent (one of the alternative processes that is not depicted in Figure 11). Solutes that exhibit weaker forces with the stationary phase are more likely to interact with the surface by sorption. 

It should be first noted that the curves relating the concentration of ethyl acetate in the solvent mixture and on the stationary phase are straight and horizontal. As the initial concentration of ethyl acetate in mobile phase was 0.35 %w/v, the volume of mobile phase was 100 ml and the mass of silica was 10 g. It follows that, although a total of about 1.2 g of solute was added to the system, about a third of which resided on the silica surface, neither anisole nor nitrobenzene displaced any ethyl acetate from the silica gel. 

The authors repeated the experiment with two, more strongly retained, solutes m-dimethoxy benzene and benzyl acetate. These solutes were found to elute at (k ) values of 10.5 and 27.0 respectively on a silica column operated with the same mobile phase. The results obtained are shown as similar curves in Figure 13. The m dimethoxy benzene, which eluted at a (k ) of 10.5, also failed to displace any ethyl acetate from the silica gel even when more than 0.5 g of solute resided on the silica surface. Consequently, the m-dimethoxy benzene must have also interacted with the surface by a sorption process. 

The amino group of the silane was also shown to hydrogen bond with silica surfaces. 

Adsorption on Silica Surfaces, edited by Eugene Papirer... 

Porous silica packings do, however, sometimes suffer from adsorption between the sample and silanol groups on the silica surface. This interaction can interfere with the size exclusion experiment and yield erroneous information. In many cases, this problem is easily overcome by selecting mobile phases that eliminate these interactions. In addition, the surface of porous silica packings is routinely modified in order to reduce these undesirable interactions. Trimeth-ylsilane modified packing is typically used with synthetic polymers. Diol modified packing is typically used with proteins and peptides. 

Zorbax PSM packings are produced in three forms unmodified, trimethyl-silane modified, and diol modified. Modified Zorbax PSM packings are produced by chemically bonding a layer on the silica surface through siloxane bonds (Table 3.1). Silanized Zorbax PSM packings suppress adsorption effects and are the preferred choice when the mobile phase contains organic solvents. Unsilanized and diol modified Zorbax PSM packings should be used when the mobile phase consists of aqueous solvents. 

Select mobile phases for HPSEC based on their ability to dissolve the sample and their compatibility with the column. Zorbax PSM columns are compatible with a wide variety of organic and aqueous mobile phases (Table 3.4), but analysts should avoid aqueous mobile phases with a pH greater than 8.5. As mentioned earlier, select mobile phases that minimize adsorption between samples and silica-based packings. Sample elution from the column after the permeation volume indicates that adsorption has occurred. If adsorption is observed or suspected, select a mobile phase that will be more strongly adsorbed onto the silica surface than the sample. For example, N,N-dimethyl-formamide (DMF) is often used for polyurethanes and polyacrylonitrile because it eliminates adsorption and dissolves the polymers. When aqueous mobile phases are required, highly polar macromolecules such as Carbowax can be used to coat the silica surface and eliminate adsorption. Table 3.5 provides a list of recommended mobile-phase conditions for some common polymers. 

Protein-Pak packings are designed for the size exclusion chromatography of proteins and related compounds. They are based on silica, which is deactivated with glycidylpropylsilane. The diol function prevents the interaction of the target analytes with the silica surface. However, because coverage of the silica surface is always incomplete, residual acidic silanols can interact with the analytes. For this reason, most applications are carried out with a salt concentration above 0.2 mol/liter, which eliminates the interaction of analytes with surface silanols. Protein-Pak packings are stable from pH 2 to pH 8. 

Problems with adsorption onto the packing material are more common in aqueous GPC than in organic solvents. Adsorption onto the stationary phase can occur even for materials that are well soluble in water if there are specific interactions between the analyte and the surface. A common example of such an interaction is the analysis of pEG on a silica-based column. Because of residual silanols on the silica surface, hydrogen bonding can occur and pEG cannot be chromatographed reliably on silica-based columns. Eikewise, difficulties are often encountered with polystyrenesulfonate on methacrylate-based columns. 

Figure 8 (a) Schematic diagram showing distribution of fillers in different parts of anionic elastomer [27]. (b) Proposed structural model showing interaction of silanol groups on silica surface with carboxylale groups [27]. 

For chromatographic sorbents it is necessary that the polymeric cover be uniformly distributed over the silica surface and chemically coupled to it. The appropriate introduction of the initiator is one of the decisive steps of this task. The first method (binding to the surface) increases the yield of grafted polymer. However in this case a large amount of homopolymer is formed. This disadvantage could be prevented by the application of hydroperoxide initiators in combination with the proper redox-agents [78-81],... 

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