Field-Driven and Electron Beam-Driven Discrete Multi-stable Microrotators Based on Modified HPLC Sorbents
摘要
Different chromatographic sorbents are characterized by different size, charge, and exchange properties, as well as surface groups. In HPLC modified Silasorbs with chemically bonded polar phases (usually 3-glycerolpropyl, 3-aminopropyl, 3-cyanopropyl derivatives of Silasorb 300) and non-polar phases (for reversed-phase HPLC, usually n-octyl, n-octadecyl, or 2-phenethyl derivatives of Silasorb 300, as well as dimethylsilyl derivatives of Silasorb 600) are widely used. For example, Silasorb DEA and Silasorb DEA 300 Polygosil N(CH3)2 are weak anion exchangers, while Silasorb S and Silasorb S 300 Nucleosil 100 SA (SCX) are strong cation exchangers. Therefore, their response to the electron and ion beams will differ and it is possible to select such combinations of sorbents and irradiation conditions under which the surface charge caused by the specific functional groups will lead to the exotic electrostatic effects, and after sorption the surface charge will change and the nature of the effect observed will also change (depending on the sorbent grain/particle position in the field). This can be demonstrated by time-resolved SEM analysis with millisecond resolution sufficient to observe the dynamics of microparticles. Such effects can be observed on a number of ion exchangers, but here we illustrate this approach using the simplest example of Silasorb C18 (n-octadecyl derivative of Silasorb 300). The particle rotation and the presence of several discrete stationary positions of the Silasorb particle under the electron beam are shown. For the pairs of particles, the bistability of the charge switching and particle dynamics is observed, and for the ensembles of several particles, the presence of several stable states is possible—multistability. In both cases, the presence of stable states can also be proved using oscilloscopic monitoring.