The development of stationary phase supports for liquid chromatography. II. Examination of the pore structure of zirconia-silica composites using nitrogen sorption

In this Part II of a two-part series, we examined the pore structure of zirconia-silica mixed oxide supports that were prepared using a variety of calcination conditions. Nitrogen sorption was used to evaluate the pore structure, offering a comparison to the size exclusion results presented in Part I. Pore volumes and surface areas of zirconia-silica composites, calcined in the presence of sodium chloride, were found to be higher compared to the composite calcined in the absence of sodium chloride. The pore diameter was observed to increase as the temperature of calcination increased.