Preparation of Silica based C8 Packing Material from Non-Toxic Water Glass

Abstract

Synthesize of low price stationary phases with permanent groups for reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) has gained great importance in the past several years. In chromatographic analyses, silica gels are commonly used as a supporting material as they give high mechanical strength and swelling resistance. Additionally, different particle and pore size availability and low cost makes these materials one of the most suitable stationary phase. In this work, chemically bonded C8 phase was synthesized by sol-gel route and instead of toxic silicone alkoxides, non-toxic water glass was chosen as a precursor. Linking process of C8 groups to silica gel was carried out by trimethoxy(octyl)silane. The end-capping and C8 binding procedure was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and morphology of C8 particles were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM).