Determination of Accurate Molecular Weights of Cationic Polyacrylamide Polymers through Advanced Gel Permeation Chromatography Triple Detection Technique

Abstract

Abstract

Gel permeation chromatography along with refractive index detector or UV detector provides relative molecular weight information along with PDI with respect to standard used. If standards are of different nature than sample such relative results just are used to compare polymers and co-polymers among themselves. These detectors fail to reveal information about other important polymer characters like size of polymer in solution (hydrodynamic volume), branching pattern and intrinsic viscosity which can be analysed by using triple detection GPC technique. In triple detection GPC accurate molecular weight can be analysed which is irrespective of standard used and also other polymer properties can be analysed like branching pattern, size and viscosity. Triple detection GPC technique uses static light scattering detector, viscometer along with RI detector simultaneously. Static light scattering detector along with RI can reveal accurate molecular weight information along with size (Rg), without column calibration. Light scattering detector is generally used to measure higher molecular weight polymers. RI along with Viscometer is used to determine accurate molecular weight by column calibration but irrespective of standard used called Universal calibration. In this paper polyacrylamide co-polymers were analysed through triple detection techniques to determine accurate molecular weight with properties.

Keywords: GPC, triple detection, universal calibration, PDI, hydrodynamic volume, intrinsic viscosity, static light scattering