Size-exclusion chromatography is amongst the most widely used polymer characterisation methods in both academic and industrial polymer synthesis research. This technique is used for the determination of molecular weight parameters and dispersity of unknown polymers using a relative calibration on polymer standards including polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate). The many advantages, including high accuracy, reproducibility and low sample consumption, have contributed to the worldwide success of this analytical technique. The current generation SEC systems have a stationary phase mostly containing highly porous, styrene-divinylbenzene particles allowing for a size-based separation of different polymers in solution but limiting the flow rate and solvent compatibility. Recently, sub-2�m ethylene-bridged hybrid (BEH) packing materials have become available for SEC analysis. These packing materials not only can withstand pressure up to 15000 psi but also show high spatial stability towards different solvents. Combining these BEH columns with the ultra-high performance LC (UPLC) technology opens up new UHP-SEC analysis, showing strongly reduced runtimes and unseen solvent compatibility.This poster will present an overview of the analysis of different polymers using UHP-SEC on a wide range of solvents. After the initial Van Deemter optimization and calibration using PMMA or PS standards, different polymers were analysed using the optimized conditions and compared to previously obtained SEC results. To evaluate the scope of the UHP-SEC, the choice of mobile phases was focussed on commonly used solvents in SEC with a wide polarity range namely tetrahydrofuran, N,N-dimethylacetamide and methanol. In order to evaluate the suitability of the equipment in a research environment, a large variety of functional polymers including polyoxazolines (see figure), poly(oligo ethylene acrylate)'s and boronic acid containing polymers were injected in order to identify possible undesirable column interactions.

Ultra-high performance size-exclusion chromatography in polar and high viscous solvents

248th National Meeting (2014)

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