Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy Method for Quantitative Characterization of Silica Monolith Morphology

• Published in: Analytical chemistry (Washington) Vol. 82; no. 15; pp. 6569 - 6575
• Main Authors: Bruns, Stefan, Müllner, Tibor, Kollmann, Martin, Schachtner, Joachim, Höltzel, Alexandra, Tallarek, Ulrich
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.08.2010
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Chemistry; Chromatographic methods and physical methods associated with chromatography; Exact sciences and technology; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Microscopy; Microscopy, Confocal - methods; Morphology; Other chromatographic methods; Silica; Silicon Dioxide - chemistry; Statistical analysis; Capillary column; Statistical analysis; Scanning; Image processing; HPLC chromatography; Confocal microscopy; Method; Silica; Characterization; Image analysis; Transmission electron microscopy; Morphology; Distribution; Laser; Pretreatment
• ISSN: 0003-2700; 1520-6882
• DOI: 10.1021/ac100909t

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.