Stationary Phases for Liquid Phase Separations

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With this award, the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry is supporting Professor Luis A. Colon of the University at Buffalo to develop stable separation media based on highly crosslinked polymeric layers on silica for use in separation techniques in chemical analysis. Separation media are indispensable analytical tools in chemical analysis, which is itself central to the chemical, biological, and related sciences. The proposed crosslinked polymeric layers are designed to possess high chemical and physical stability, with the goal of improving upon currently used separation materials. The proposed research is targeting a universal platform on which different separation media could be prepared, opening up possibilities for their use in specific practical applications. Broader impacts are addressed through the education and training of graduate and undergraduate students, including members of traditionally underrepresented groups. Research on this project will provide skills in chemical analysis that are very useful for the modern-day workforce in the academic, pharmaceutical and industrial chemical sectors. Experiments will be developed for the undergraduate laboratory so that more students can experience an authentic research experience in this setting. The research project will exploit the chemistry of diazonium salts to assemble organic molecular entities on the surface of silica substrates, rendering materials with highly desirable properties for liquid chromatography (LC) and other separation techniques, dictated by the newly assembled layer on the material's surface. The strategy consists on attaching functionalized aryl groups on the silica surface, from which molecular layers will grow by means of diazonium chemistry, and then crosslinking the layers to create a highly stable polymer layer on the silica surface. During the different stages of optimizing the synthesis of the new layer on the silica surface, a systematic evaluation will be performed to assess the physical, chemical, and chromatographic properties of the material using a battery of techniques (e.g., Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, elemental analysis, gas adsorption analysis, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis). LC will be used to examine the chromatographic performance of the newly synthesized materials. The assessment will include the use of standard published protocols that will provide information on the retentive behavior (i.e., selectivity) and stability of the materials under liquid chromatographic conditions. These investigations are part of a long-term research program focused on the study of new and improved materials for chemical analysis, particularly in chemical separations.