Packing density of slurry-packed capillaries at low aspect ratios

Abstract

The average interparticle voidage or porosity (εinter) in cylindrical capillaries is studied in dependence on the column diameter (dc) to particle diameter (dp) ratio for 5 < 50. Using optimized slurry and packing solvents, high pressure and ultrasonication, 5 μm-sized porous C18-silica particles were slurry-packed into fused-silica capillaries having ids from 30 to 250 μm. Packing densities are assessed by a polystyrene standard which is size-excluded from the intraparticle pore space of the packings. For dc/dp > 35 densely packed beds are realized (εinter = 0.36-0.37), while for decreasing aspect ratios an exponential increase in ε inter is observed reaching εinter ≈ 0.47 at dc/dp = 5. This behaviour is ascribed to a combination of the geometrical wall effect operating in the direct vicinity of the column wall, caused by the inability of the particles to form a dense packing against the hard surface of the column wall, and particle characteristics like the size distribution, shape and surface roughness. Results are compared with the literature data to address also the importance of absolute particle size in studying structure- transport relations in packed beds in dependence on the aspect ratio dc/dp. © 2008 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.