Thick silica gel coatings on methylsilsesquioxane monoliths using anisotropic phase separation.
Silica gel coatings on methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS)-derived monoliths have been studied using wetting transition. Wetting transition is observed in a small confined space, where a coating solution phase-separates into a well-coarsened dimension, making all the phase-separating polymerizing silica phase dynamically flow onto the existing surface of a mold. Bulk coating experiments have shown reductions of both macropore volume and diameter due to the coated layer. Comparing HPLC efficiencies of the coated monolith with those of the non-coated MTMS monolith revealed that the retention factors drastically increased in both normal- and reversed-phase modes. This is attributed to the existence of considerable amounts of accessible micropores left inside the coated layer, where analyte molecules travel and adsorb for a considerable period of time.
Kanamori
Kazuyoshi
K
Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. kanamori@kuchem.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Nakanishi
Kazuki
K
Hanada
Teiichi
T