Colloids play a very significant role in nature and in our daily life. The Dow Chemical Company produces millions of pounds of colloid-based materials for coatings, home and personal care and many other industrial applications. The analytical capability for characterization of colloidal particles and polymers made by emulsion polymerization is essential to product development, quality control, intellectual property protection, and fundamental research.<br/><br/>Many analytical techniques have been used for colloidal particle characterization; however, there are still many challenges to obtain necessary information with high precision and accuracy in a reasonable time frame especially for the systems with multimodal distributions. In addition, polymers made by emulsion polymerization processes can have ultra-high molecular weight, branching and/or microgel, which challenge the limits of Gel Permeation Chromatography.<br/><br/>In this presentation, we will use standards and industrially relevant examples to demonstrate the capability of Asymmetrical Flow Field-Flow Fractionation (AF4) with on-line multi-angle light scattering (MALS) and refractive Index detector (dRI) to determine the particle size distribution, particle concentration, particle mass, and apparent density of particle. In addition, we will also demonstrate the benefit of using AF4-MALS-dRI for characterizing ultrahigh molecular weight polymer/microgel made with emulsion polymerization process. The separation power and quantification precision and accuracy will be discussed in detail. Meanwhile, challenges in characterizing these colloidal systems will also be discussed to stimulate future developments in this arena.

Separation and quantification of colloidal particles and polymers made by emulsion polymerization using asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation with advanced detection: Challenges and progresses

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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