title: Confocal laser scanning microscopy method for quantitative characterization of silica monolith morphology.
abstract: We present a fast, nondestructive, and quantitative approach to characterize the morphology of capillary silica-based monolithic columns by reconstruction from confocal laser scanning microscopy images. The method comprises column pretreatment, image acquisition, image processing, and statistical analysis of the image data. The received morphological data are chord length distributions for the bulk macropore space and skeleton of the silica monolith. The morphological information is shown to be comparable to that derived from transmission electron microscopy, but far easier to access. The approach is generally applicable to silica-based capillary columns, monolithic or particulate. It allows the rapid acquisition of hundreds of longitudinal and cross-sectional images in a single session, resolving a multitude of morphological details in the column.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Hans-Meerwein-Strasse, 35032 Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bruns
authors.forename: Tibor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Müllner
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kollmann
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schachtner
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Höltzel
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Tallarek
mesh_terms: D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012822:Silicon Dioxide