Determination of the compositional heterogeneity of polydisperse polymer samples by the coupling of size-exclusion chromatography and thermal field-flow fractionation

Abstract

Determination of the compositional heterogeneity of polydisperse polymer samples by the coupling of size-exclusion chromatography and thermal field-flow fractionation van Asten, A.C.; van Dam, R.J.; Kok, W.T.; Tijssen, R.; Poppe, H. Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. An off-line coupling of size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) and thermal field-flow fractionation (ThFFF) was used successfully to cross-fractionate copolymers and polymer blends. Various fractions of different molecular mass were obtained from polydisperse polymer samples by SEC. Because the molecular diffusion coefficients were known, the ThFFF analysis of these fractions yielded directly thermal diffusion coefficients. As thermal difftcion is strongly affected by the chemical nature of the polymer, the chemical composition of polymer samples can be studied as function of the molecular mass with this technique. This is illustrated with the SEC-ThFFF crossfractionation of a polystyrene sample blended with a polybutadiene and a polytetrahydrofuran standard, and of butadiene-and styrene-methylmethacrylate copolymers.

Comparison of methods for the determination of diffusion coefficients of polymers in dilute solutions: The influence of polydispersity

“…8 Although the retention in SEC is also size-dependable, the separation mechanism is more complicated than that of HDC. Since the introduction of the universal calibration method by Benoit et al, 26 it is common to define the hydrodynamic volume {the product of the intrinsic viscosity [] and the molecular mass M} of a polymer as the key separation parameter in SEC.…”

An overview of separation methods in starch analysis: The importance of size exclusion chromatography and field flow fractionation

“…On the other hand, by programming the temperature gradient, polymer mixtures containing components with a wide range of MW can be handled in a single run 79. Combining ThFFF with SEC 80 as well as with hydrodynamic chromatography (HDC) 81 has shown to be successful approaches for polymer characterization.…”

Field‐flow fractionation of proteins, polysaccharides, synthetic polymers, and supramolecular assemblies

“…Despite numerous empirical studies and proposed theories [54][55][56][57][58], thermal diffusion remains an intriguing, but highly useful, aspect of ThFFF separations. Composition-based separations have been demonstrated for both polymers [59][60][61] and particles [62]. This topic is discussed further in a later section.…”

“…MALDI-MS, on the other hand, provides MW information and confirms the identity of the polymer thereby eliminating the need for ThFFF standards [60]. polyTHF [61]. Same-size fractions were obtained using SEC.…”