title: Synthesis of large pore-diameter SBA-15 mesostructured spherical silica and its application in ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography.
abstract: A modified synthesis approach for spherical large pore-diameter SBA-15 mesoporous silica (SLP-SBA-15) with particle size range of 0.5-1microm was being reported. It was worth mentioning that in this improved methodology, the use of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as co-template significantly reduced the self-assembly time from 24h to 45min. Moreover, under reflux condition, the reaction time could be further shortened by reducing the aging time from 48h to 6h. The resultant SLP-SBA-15 was thereafter successfully functionalized and packed into an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) column for the separation of aromatic compounds. A variety of characterizations demonstrated that the silica products exhibited a well-ordered 2d hexagonal mesostructure with well-formed spherical morphology. pore-diameter can be enlarged up to 8.2nm without affecting the structural order. The SLP-SBA-15 samples showed excellent thermal and hydrothermal stabilities. The octadecyltriethoxysilane functionalized SLP-SBA-15 (SLP-C18-SBA-15) was demonstrated to be an effective stationary phase in UHPLC application because the column exhibited significantly reduced column pressure (2800psi) at a flow rate of 0.4ml/min. Accordingly, it would afford greater flexibility for tuning of the flow rate to meet the fast separation requirement.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637459, Singapore.
authors.forename: Xianbin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Laisheng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Teng Teng
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Siu Choon
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Yanhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010316:Particle Size; D016062:Porosity; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: C509969:SBA-15; D012822:Silicon Dioxide