Determination of the solvent density profiles across mesopores of silica-C18 bonded phases in contact with acetonitrile/water mixtures: A semi-empirical approach.

The local volume fractions of water, acetonitrile, and C18-bonded chains across the 96Åmesopores of 5μm Symmetry particles were determined semi-empirically. The semi-empirical approach was based on previous molecular dynamics studies, which provided relevant mathematical expressions for the density profiles of C18 chains and water molecules, and on minor disturbance experiments, which measured the excess amount of acetonitrile adsorbed in the pores of Symmetry-C18 particles. The pore walls of the Symmetry-C18 material were in thermodynamic equilibrium with a series of binary mixtures of water and acetonitrile. The results show that C18 chains are mostly solvated by acetonitrile molecules, water is excluded from the C18-bonded layer, and acetonitrile concentrates across a 15-25Åthick interface region between the C18 layer and the bulk phase. These actual density profiles are expected to have a direct impact on the retention behaviour of charged, polar, and neutral analytes in RPLC. They also provide clues to predict the local mobility of analytes inside the pores and a sound physico-chemical description of the phenomenon of surface diffusion observed in RPLC.