Sol–gel synthesis of mesoporous silicas containing albumin and guanidine polymers and its application to the bilirubin adsorption

The organic–inorganic composite materials based on mesoporous silica were synthesized using sol–gel method. The surface area of silicas was modified by bovine serum albumin (BSA) and guanidine polymers: polyacrylate guanidine (PAG) and polymethacrylate guanidine. The mesoporous silicas were characterized by nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy. The obtained materials were used as adsorbents for selective bilirubin removal. It was shown that the structural properties and surface area of modified materials depend on the nature of polymers. Incorporation of polymers in silica gel matrix during sol–gel process leads to the formation of mesoporous structure with high pore diameter and a BET surface area equals to 346 m²/g for SiO₂/BSA and 160 m²/g for SiO₂/PAG. Analysis of adsorption isotherms showed that modification of silica by BSA and guanidine polymers increases its adsorption ability to bilirubin molecules. According to Langmuir model, the maximum bilirubin adsorption capacity was 1.18 mg/g.     

Benzene Adsorption Isotherms on MCM-41 and their Use for Pore Size Analysis

This work is focused on the elaboration of methodology for adsorption characterization of porous silicas by using benzene adsorption isotherms measured on good quality MCM-41 materials. Three MCM-41 samples were synthesized by using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as silica source and surfactants, octyltrimethylammonium (C8), decyltrimethylammonium (C10) and cetyltrimethylammonium (C16) bromides as templates. A characteristic feature of this synthesis was relatively long hydrothermal treatment (5 days) at 373 K, which gave well ordered samples as evidenced by powder XRD analysis. Benzene adsorption isotherms measured on these MCM-41 samples were used to evaluate such standard quantities as the BET specific surface area, total pore volume, external surface area and the volume of ordered mesopores, and to obtain the statistical film thickness (t-curve) as well as the Kelvin-type relation, which describes the dependence between pore width and condensation pressure for benzene on silica at 298 K. The latter relations were incorporated into the Barrett-Joyner-Halenda algorithm to extend its applicability to calculate the pore size distributions from benzene adsorption data.     

Purification of an oligonucleotide at high column loading by high affinity, low-molecular-mass displacers

New urea-functionalized silica stationary phases were prepared by a single-step surface modification through reaction of LiChrosorb Si100 (5 microm particle size) with a homologous series of alkoxysilanes, synthesized in our laboratory, with the general formula (CH3CH2O)3Si(CH2)3NHC(O)NH(CH2)nCH3, where n=4, 6 and 11. The modified silicas were characterized by elemental analysis of carbon and nitrogen, solid-state 29Si- and 13C-cross polarization magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance and nitrogen adsorption isotherms at 77 K. Chromatographic evaluation of the three urea-functionalized silicas in 150x3.9 mm I.D. HPLC columns was carried out by the separation of a test mixture composed of uracil, acetophenone, benzene, toluene and naphthalene, using acetonitrile-water as mobile phase. These new stationary phases, with embedded polar urea groups, are very promising when compared with amide phases prepared by the conventional two-step modification process. A single-step reaction process silica modification is better for obtaining a well-characterized and homogeneous modified surface.     

Adsorption properties of lamellar silica

Isotherms and heats of adsorption of water, n-heptane, trimethylamine, and methanol (at 303 K) vapors and isotherms of adsorption of nitrogen (at 77 K) on the lamellar silica prepared by removing metals from natural mineral vermiculate were measured. The surface concentration of adsorption sites and their energetic characteristics were found to be similar to those of ordinary silicas. The distinction of the lamellar silica from ordinary silicas manifests itself through extended desorption branches, a feature that makes it possible to classify the lamellar silica under study as a limitedly swellable sorbent.     

Porous Texture and Surface Character of Dehydroxylated and Rehydroxylated MCM-41 Mesoporous Silicas-Analysis of Adsorption Isotherms of Nitrogen Gas and Water Vapor

Four samples of MCM-41 mesoporous silicas whose average pore diameters are 2.4, 2.8, 3.2, and 3.6 nm were prepared using sodium orthosilicate and cationic surfactants of [CH(3)(CH(2))(n)N(CH(3))(3)]X (n=11, 13, 15, 17). These four samples were calcined at 1123 K in vacuo to obtain the dehydroxylated samples, which were further rehydroxylated at 298 K to obtain the rehydroxylated samples. The adsorption isotherms of nitrogen gas (77 K) for the 12 MCM-41 mesoporous silicas are of Type IVc, giving no adsorption hysteresis. On the other hand, the first adsorption isotherms of water vapor (298 K) for the dehydroxylated MCM-41 samples are quite different from those of nitrogen gas, giving the remarkable adsorption hysteresis. The second water isotherms for the rehydroxylated MCM-41 samples are of Type IV, showing slight hysteresis. Using the nitrogen isotherms, the relation between the pore size and carbon chain length of the surfactant has been determined, and the effect of dehydroxylation and rehydroxylation on the porous texture has been examined. Using the first and second water isotherms, the adsorption model of physisorbed waters adsorbed on the surface silanol groups has been proposed. From the pore size distribution curves of nitrogen and water, the presence of constrictions in the cylindrical pores has been predicted. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Evaluations of the BET, I-point, and α-plot procedures for the routine determination of external specific surface areas of highly dispersed and porous silicas

Nitrogen adsorption isotherms of silicas and other oxidic materials are distorted by the presence of micropore adsorption and capillary condensation. This distortion affects the determination of the specific area of the material, depending on the chosen calculation procedure. Correction of the initial (total) isotherm for micropore capacity decreases or eliminates this source of error to give a useful estimate of the external surface area. In the present work, 26 silica-based adsorbent materials were studied to obtain total and external specific surface areas by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), I-point, and α-plot procedures, using the micropore capacities from the α-plots to obtain the corrected (external) isotherms. Errors in the specific surface areas due to the presence of micropores are given by the equation ΔsA = 3.267 (m(2)/cm(3) STP) sV(mic), where sA is the specific surface area in m(2)/g and sV(mic) is the micropore capacity in cm(3) STP/g. A consistent set of conversion factors was obtained by which the external specific surface area obtained using one of these procedures can be converted, with part-per-thousand precision, to either of the others. Although the I-point procedure presents the advantage of not requiring a defined p/p(0) range, the α-plot procedure is recommended for routine determinations of external specific areas of silicas and other oxidic materials, except for cases in which the shapes of the adsorption isotherms of the sample and the reference differ significantly from one another in the p/p(0) range used for the determination.     

Peculiarities of adsorption of organic compounds and water on silicas with bonded polyfluoroalkyl groups

The adsorption isotherms of benzene revealed the low adsorption potential of polyfluoroalkyl silicas compared with both initial silica and hexadecyl silica. Hydrophobicity of all modified silicas, measured by water adsorption, was rather close at p/p(s)=1 and was significantly different in the initial p/p(s) region: polyfluoroalkyl silicas did not nearly adsorb water but alkyl silica did it gradually. Thermodynamic parameters of adsorption of organic compounds of different nature were studied at a zero surface coverage by gas chromatography (GC). The high enough contributions of specific interactions as well as polar molecular group increments to the Gibbs adsorption energy were found to be characteristic of polyfluoroalkyl silica. The selectivity of polyfluoroalkyl silicas and the commonly used fluorinecontaining liquid stationary phase for GC (OV-210) toward homologous ethers, esters, and alcohols was comparable in most cases. GC data, IR spectra, and adsorption measurements were in good agreement with each other. It was shown that residual SiOH-groups of silica do not nearly take part in the adsorption process because they are effectively screened by the attached organic groups.     

Adsorption of diazinon and fenitothion on MCM-41 and MCM-48 mesoporous silicas from non-polar solvent

The adsorption of two common organophosphorus pesticides, diethoxy-[(2-isopropyl-6-methyl-4-pyrimidinyl)oxy]-thioxophosphorane (diazinon) and dimethoxy-(3-methyl-4-nitrophenoxy)-thioxophosphorane (fenitrothion), by MCM-41 and MCM-48 mesoporous silicas at room temperature was investigated. UVvis and IR spectroscopy, small-angle X-ray diffraction, and the specific surface area analysis (S _BET) were used to study the adsorption behavior of diazinon and fenitrothion. The results show that the MCM-41 and MCM-48 mesoporous silicas adsorb diazinon more efficiently than fenitrothion. The extraction of adsorbed materials from the adsorbents with polar solvents and subsequent analysis by ³¹P NMR showed that the adsorption of diazinon and fenitrothion on mesoporous silicas is destructive and non-destructive, respectively. Nitrogen adsorption measurements showed that the specific surface area of both silicas decreases after the adsorption of pesticides, and the larger effect is observed for diazinon. The article is published in the original.     

Improvement of the Kruk-Jaroniec-Sayari method for pore size analysis of ordered silicas with cylindrical mesopores

In this work, the X-ray diffraction structure modeling was employed for analysis of hexagonally ordered large-pore silicas, SBA-15, to determine their pore width independently of adsorption measurements. Nitrogen adsorption isotherms were used to evaluate the relative pressure of capillary condensation in cylindrical mesopores of these materials. This approach allowed us to extend the original Kruk-Jaroniec-Sayari (KJS) relation (Langmuir 1997, 13, 6267) between the pore width and capillary condensation pressure up to 10 nm instead of previously established range from 2 to 6.5 nm for a series of MCM-41 and to improve the KJS pore size analysis of large pore silicas.     

Physisorbed water layer formation on fully hydroxylated mesoporous silicas

Kinetic adsorption isotherms were obtained by gravimetric determination of water adsorption into fully hydroxylated mesoporous silicas using samples exposed to controlled humidity air at 22+/-2 degrees C. Twenty kinetic isotherms at several relative humidities (11, 33, 43, 51, 75, and 85%) were obtained with 11 different batches of silica using this simple procedure to obtain quantitative information on the formation of H2O adsorbates. The H2O surface concentrations obtained from the plateau data of individual kinetic adsorption isotherms at 43 and 51% RH, typically precise to about +/-1%, show that a complete monolayer is formed with negligible second-layer adsorption at these relative humidities. This monolayer has a surface concentration of 7.68+/-0.30 micromol H2O/m2, which is lower than the quasi-equilibrium concentration at these relative humidities obtained by the conventional equilibrium-isotherm procedure. Comparison with the Kiselev-Zhuravlev concentration of silanol groups on fully hydroxylated silicas (7.6+/-0.8 micromol SiOH/m2) confirms 1:1 H2O:SiOH stoichiometry of this monolayer. The presence of partial-layer structures at 2.85+/-0.1 and 5.7+/-0.1 micromol H2O/m2 is suggested by isotherms at 11 and 33% RH, respectively, while a bilayer at approximately 14+/-1 micromol H2O/m2 is suggested by kinetic isotherms at 75 and 85% RH.     

Synthesis of high surface area Al-containing mesoporous silica from calcined and acid leached kaolinites as the precursors

Al-containing mesoporous silicas were synthesized by hydrothermal treatment of microporous silica prepared by selectively acid leached metakaolinites with Si/Al = 3.9-92.5 mixed with a surfactant of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTABr). The specific surface area of the products increased with higher surfactant/microporous silica (surf/Si) ratio and Si/Al ratio of the microporous silica, reaching about 1400 m2/g at CTABr/Si 0.1 and Si/Al 40. The XRD patterns of these products show a hexagonal (100) peak with the lattice parameter a0=4.2-4.3 nm and the N2 adsorption isotherms show steep increase of adsorption between relative pressure of 0.3 and 0.4. Hexagonal mesoporous microstructure is observed by high resolution TEM. The pore size distributions of the products show a sharp peak at 2.8 nm by the BJH method. The high specific surface area of the present mesoporous samples is attributed to the lower matrix density and surface roughness of mesopore wall. The highest specific surface area of the products reached up to 1420 m2/g and this value is apparently higher than those reported in hexagonal mesoporous silicas. A unique microporous structure of the starting material is thought to be related to achieve such a high specific surface area of the products.     

The Adsorption of Saturated and Aromatic Hydrocarbon Vapors on Silicas with Chemically Grafted Perfluorohexyl Groups

Regardless of the nature of the modifier (mono-, bi-, and trichlorosilanes with perfluorohexyl groups or monochlorooctylsilane), the modification of silica decreased retention volumes and adsorption values of both n-alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons. The entropy factor can play a key role in adsorption intermolecular interactions on the surface of chemically modified silicas. The modification of the surface with bi- and trichloroperfluorohexylsilanes caused the appearance of new centers more active compared with those of the initial carrier. The most oleophobic and nonpolar coatings were obtained using monochlorosilane with perfluorohexyl groups as a modifier.     

Removal of boron from aqueous solution by clays and modified clays

In order to increase the adsorption capacities of bentonite, sepiolite, and illite for the removal of boron form aqueous solution, the clay samples were modified by nonylammonium chloride. Specific surface areas of the samples were determined as a result of N2 adsorption-desorption at 77 K using the BET method. X-ray powder diffraction analysis of the clays and modified clays was used to determine the effects of modifying agents on the layer structure of the clays. The surface characterization of clays and modified clay samples was conducted using the FTIR technique before and after the boron adsorption. For the optimization of the adsorption of boron on clays and modified clays, the effect of pH and ionic strength was examined. The results indicate that adsorption of boron can be achieved by regulating pH values in the range of 8-10 and high ionic strength. In order to find the adsorption characteristics, Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption isotherms were applied to the adsorption data. The data were well described by Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption isotherms while the fit of Langmuir equation to adsorption data was poor. It was reached that modification of bentonite and illite with nonylammonium chloride increased the adsorption capacity for boron sorption from aqueous solution.     

Influence of specific surface area of pyrogenic silicas on their heat of immersion in water and on their surface properties assessed using inverse gas chromatography

The heat of immersion and the surface properties of pyrogenic silicas were examined using microcalorimetry and inverse gas chromatography at finite concentration (FC-IGC). The microcalorimetric measurements showed a regular decrease of the heat of immersion, in water, per area unit with an increase in the surface areas. The desorption isotherms were established using FC-IGC. It is observed that BET constant value goes through a minimum, whereas the shapes of distribution function of the adsorption energies of isopropanol are changing. All results could be interpreted using a model of formation of the pyrogenic silica in the flame, which explains the change of surface functionality and geometry occurring around 200 m2/g.     

The special features of protein adsorption isotherms on silica adsorbents

The adsorption isotherms of hemoglobin, peroxidase, and β-galactosidase on silochrome and mesoporous and biporous silicas were comparatively studied. Adsorption developed in two stages, including fast “reversible” protein adsorption (equilibrium was reached in t ≤ 1–2 h) and a “slow stage” of irreversible binding in t ≫ 24 h (multipoint adsorption). The corresponding equilibrium constants were determined. The mechanism of unlimited linear association of peroxidase in the adsorption layer on the surface of silochrome was established.     

The influence of the structure of the surface of hydrophilic-hydrophobic silicas on the adsorption of cholic acid

We synthesized hydrophilic-hydrophobic silicas with uniform and island arrangements of functional groups over the surface and various degrees of surface hydrophobicity. The adsorption of cholic acid on hydrophilic-hydrophobic silicas was studied as depending on acid concentration in solution. Adsorption was shown to be largely determined by dispersion interactions between hydrophobic surface regions and steroid cholic acid segments. Enhanced adsorption ability was observed for hydrophilic-hydrophobic silica with a mosaic surface structure. This was caused by the contribution of geometric cholic acid imprints into the total adsorption.     

Influence of analysis conditions on low pressure adsorption measurements and its consequences in characterization of energetic and structural heterogeneity of microporous carbons

Nitrogen adsorption isotherms on nonporous and microporous carbons were thoroughly studied at low relative pressures. For nonporous carbons low pressure measurements seem to be unaffected by analysis conditions. However, these measurements on microporous solids may be affected by analysis conditions at relative pressures below 10^–4. It was shown that selection of proper equilibration time is crucial for correct measurements of equilibrium pressures during adsorption on microporous carbons. The isotherm shift induced by insufficient equilibration of the system may affect the surface heterogeneity and microporosity analysis. A comparison of the adsorption energy and pore volume distribution functions calculated from low pressure nitrogen adsorption isotherms measured at different equilibration times on a microporous carbon shows that this effect is smaller than it was expected.     

Modification of Surface and Structural Properties of Ordered Mesoporous Silicates

Two simple modification methods for ordered mesoporous silicas were examined and compared. MCM-41 molecular sieve was physically coated with 4-cyano-4-biphenyl [4(4-pentenyloxy)]benzoate (CBPB) and chemically modified using trimethylethoxysilane. The structural and surface properties of the obtained materials were characterized using elemental analysis, thermogravimetry and nitrogen adsorption over a wide pressure range.It was shown that the pore size of the MCM-41 material was not decreased significantly after the coating procedure, even for high loadings of CBPB. Moreover, low pressure adsorption measurements indicated that significant fractions of the MCM-41 surface were not covered by CBPB, even for high CBPB loadings, which suggests that the attained coverage may be very nonuniform. The chemical bonding procedure led to a marked decrease in the pore size and change of surface properties.It was demonstrated that nitrogen adsorption measurements provide a means of a thorough characterization of modified MCM-41 materials, allowing to estimate the surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution. Moreover, low pressure adsorption data can be used to qualitatively or semiquantitatively assess the surface coverage of the coated/bonded organic groups, which may be used to estimate the uniformity of the coverage and therefore, the usefulness of the modification procedure.     

Experiment and theory of low-pressure nitrogen adsorption in organic layers supported or grafted on inorganic adsorbents: toward a tool to characterize surfaces of hybrid organic/inorganic systems

We report experimental nitrogen adsorption isotherms of organics-coated silicas, which exhibit a low-pressure desorption branch that does not meet the adsorption branch upon emptying of the pores. To address the physical origin of such a hysteresis loop, we propose an equilibrium thermodynamic model that enables one to explain this phenomenon. The present model assumes that, upon adsorption, a small amount of nitrogen molecules penetrate within the organic layer and reach adsorption sites that are located on the inorganic surface, between the grafted or adsorbed organic molecules. The number of accessible adsorption sites thus varies with the increasing gas pressure, and then we assume that it stays constant upon desorption. Comparison with experimental data shows that our model captures the features of nitrogen adsorption on such hybrid organic/inorganic materials. In particular, in addition to predicting the shape of the adsorption isotherm, the model is able to estimate, with a reasonable number of adjustable parameters, the height of the low-pressure hysteresis loop and to assess in a qualitative fashion the local density of the organic chains at the surface of the material.     

Changes in density and surface tension of water in silica pores

 The density and surface tension of water in small pores of silicas have been investigated. These physical properties of water in the pores were calculated from a comparison of pore volumes and pore radii which were estimated from adsorption and desorption isotherms of nitrogen and water. Below a pore radius of about 5 nm both the density and the surface tension of water in the pores were smaller than those of the bulk liquid and decreased with a decrease in pore size. The density of water in the pores decreased with an increase in the concentration of surface hydroxyl groups. Similarly the surface tension of water in the pores is influenced by the surface hydroxyl groups. Anomalous changes in the density and surface tension of the water in the pores are attributed to the interaction of water molecules with surface hydroxyl groups and hydrogen-bond formation among water molecules. Received: 20 April 1999 Accepted in revised form: 17 November 1999