Development of New Surfaces and Materials for Separation Science

In the Linford group at Brigham Young University we have recently developed three new sets of materials for three different areas of separations science: thin layer chromatography (TLC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and solid phase microextraction (SPME). First, via microfabrication we have grown patterned carbon nanotube (CNT) forests on planar substrates that we have infiltrated with inorganic materials such as silicon nitride. The coatings on the CNTs are conformal and typically deposited in a process like low pressure chemical vapor deposition. The resulting materials have high surface areas, are porous, and function as effective separation devices, where separations on our new TLC plates are typically significantly faster than on conventional devices. Second, we used the layer-by-layer (electrostatically driven) deposition of poly (allylamine) and nanodiamond onto carbonized poly (divinylbenzene) microspheres to create superficially porous particles for HPLC. Many interesting classes of molecules have been separated with these particles, including various cannabinoids, pesticides, tricyclic antidepressants, etc. Third, we have developed new materials for SPME by sputtering silicon onto cylindrical fiber substrates in a way that creates shadowing of the incoming flux so that materials with high porosity are obtained. These materials are currently outperforming their commercial counterparts. Throughout this work, the new materials we have made have been characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, etc.