Patent ID: 8778453

Claim:
A method of preparation of spherical, porous inorganic/organic hybrid particles having a chromatographically-enhancing pore geometry, comprising the steps of a) prepolymerizing a mixture of one or more organoalkoxysilanes and a tetraalkoxysilane to produce a polyorganoalkoxysiloxane; b) preparing an aqueous suspension of said polyorganoalkoxysiloxane, said suspension further comprising a surfactant or combination of surfactants, c) gelling said aqueous suspension in the presence of a base catalyst so as to produce porous particles; and d) modifying the pore structure of said porous particles by subjecting said porous particles to hydrothermal treatment thereby preparing spherical porous inorganic/organic hybrid particles having a chromatographically-enhancing pore geometry in which all pores of a diameter of about <34 Å contribute less than about 110 m 2 /g to the specific surface area of the particle.