*** 9761543 McNeff This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will test the feasibility of synthesizing monodisperse, nonporous zirconia microspheres for use as high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) supports for the analysis of environmentally-impactive substances. Current HPLC supports limit speed and resolution in the analysis of herbicides and pesticides, and require large amounts of solvent, because they are porous and cannot tolerate high temperature. Nonporous zirconia, coated by CVD with carbon, will overcome these problems. These zirconia microspheres (ca. 1 micrometer in diameter) will be synthesized using zirconium alkoxides and zirconium salts. The primary objective is to provide nonporous monodisperse spherical zirconia particles to produce ultrafast chromatography columns, but the particle synthesis work will also benefit other industries e.g. ceramic synthesis and catalysis. The primary commercial benefit of this research will be the reduction of organic solvent used in reversed-phase chromatographic separations of environmentally impactive substances. ***
