Spherical siliceous mesocellular foam particles for high-speed size exclusion chromatography

Spherical micrometer-sized siliceous mesocellular foam (MCF) particles with narrow window size distributions and ultralarge pore volumes were synthesized and used as packing materials for size exclusion chromatography (SEC). MCF columns exhibited excellent size exclusion properties in separating polystyrenes in organic media. The window size of spherical MCF could be tailored between 10 and 26 nm without affecting the particle morphology, allowing this packing material to be used for analyzing different molecular weight ranges. Compared to a conventional SEC system consisting of two polymer-based columns, a single, smaller MCF column could achieve similarly high resolution with significantly reduced analysis time and solvent consumption. The MCF column also exhibited better separation capability than a commercial silica-based SEC column of the same dimensions. These advantages could be attributed to the ultrahigh porosity of MCF materials. Spherical MCF particles were demonstrated to be an excellent packing material for SEC, especially for high-speed applications.