title: Determination of the pore size distribution and porosity of aerobic granules using size-exclusion chromatography.
abstract: The pore size distribution and porosity of aerobic granules with different diameters were evaluated using size-exclusion chromatography, in which polyethylene glycols and distilled water were, respectively, used as solute and mobile phase. The porosity of the aerobic granules varied from 68% to 93% and the exclusion limit, expressed as molecular mass, showed a significant difference. For the small-size granules with a diameter of 0.2-0.6mm, molecules greater than 137,000Da could not penetrate the pores, while the exclusion limits of the middle-size granules with a diameter of 0.6-0.9mm and large-size ones with a diameter of 0.9-1.5mm were 76,000 and 29,000Da, respectively. The extracellular polymeric substances of the granules might clog the pores and might be responsible for the reduced porosity. A correlation between the bioactivity and available porosity of the aerobic granules was found. The experimental results show that the size-exclusion chromatography was appropriate for elucidating the pore size distribution and porosity of the aerobic granules.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Han-Qing
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D002850:Chromatography, Gel / Q000379:methods*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008956:Models, Chemical; D010539:Permeability; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D011092:Polyethylene Glycols