Data Treatment in Aqueous GPC with On-Line Viscometer and Light Scattering Detectors

Abstract

Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) is becoming a very powerful tool for polymer characterization with the coupling of mass detectors using viscometry and light scattering techniques. The triple coupling seems to be the best way since the light scattering detector gives absolute molecular weights and viscometric detection provides intrinsic viscosity, leading to absolute molecular weights through universal calibration and information on long-chain branching. However, instrumentation becomes more sophisticated, expensive and, simultaneously, very sensitive to several parameters which are not critical in classical GPC. Moreover, an on-line computer is required for data acquisition and appropriate software for reliable interpretation of chromatograms.

Our experiments were performed with a Waters Associates room temperature instrument in which a home-made continuous viscometer, using pressure transducers, and a light scattering detector (LALLS Chromatix-CMX 100) were inserted on-line between the column set and the refractometer. Data were interpreted through personal software written on HP9836 and PC-AT computers.

We describe, here, the behavior of some polymers in aqueous solutions, mainly those that are commonly used as calibration standards (polyethylene oxides, pullulans). Experiments were run using two different sets of columns (‘Ultrahydrogel’ from Waters Associates and ‘Shodex OH-Pak’ from Showa Denko K.K.) in several aqueous solvents, pure water or water with various salts (LiNO₃, NaNO₃, LiCl, NaCl, Na₂SO₄) at different concentrations. Intrinsic viscosities were determined through viscometric detection and weight average molecular weights through the LALLS detector, leading to a plot of universal calibration curves Log([ηl.M) versus elution volumes.