Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with a sample deposition interface as a quantitative detector in size-exclusion chromatography

Detection challenges in quantitative polymer analysis by liquid chromatography

Accurate quantification of polymer distributions is one of the main challenges in polymer analysis by liquid chromatography. The response of contemporary detectors is typically influenced by compositional features such as molecular weight, chain composition, end groups, and branching. This renders the accurate quantification of complex polymers of which there are no standards available, extremely challenging. Moreover, any (programmed) change in mobile-phase composition may further limit the applicability of detection techniques. Current methods often rely on refractive index detection, which is not accurate when dealing with complex samples as the refractive-index increment is often unknown. We review current and emerging detection methods in liquid chromatography with the aim of identifying detectors, which can be applied to the quantitative analysis of complex polymers.

Toward absolute chemical composition distribution measurement of polyolefins by high-temperature liquid chromatography hyphenated with infrared absorbance and light scattering detectors

Chemical composition distribution (CCD) is a fundamental metric for representing molecular structures of copolymers in addition to molecular weight distribution (MWD). Solvent gradient interaction chromatography (SGIC) is commonly used to separate copolymers by chemical composition in order to obtain CCD. The separation of polymer in SGIC is, however, not only affected by chemical composition but also by molecular weight and architecture. The ability to measure composition and MW simultaneously after separation would be beneficial for understanding the impact of different factors and deriving true CCD. In this study, comprehensive two-dimensional chromatography (2D) was coupled with infrared absorbance (IR5) and light scattering (LS) detectors for characterization of ethylene-propylene copolymers. Polymers were first separated by SGIC as the first dimension chromatography (D1). The separated fractions were then characterized by the second dimension (D2) size exclusion chromatography (SEC) with IR5 and LS detectors. The concentrations and compositions of the separated fractions were measured online using the IR5 detector. The MWs of the fractions were measured by the ratio of LS to IR5 signals. A metric was derived from online concentration and composition data to represent CCD breadth. The metric was shown to be independent of separation gradients for an "absolute" measurement of CCD breadth. By combining online composition and MW data, the relationship of MW as a function of chemical composition was obtained. This relationship was qualitatively consistent with the results by SEC coupled to IR5, which measures chemical composition as a function of logMW. The simultaneous measurements of composition and MW give the opportunity to study the SGIC separation mechanism and derive chain architectural characteristics of polymer chains.

On-line size exclusion chromatography–pyrolysis-gas chromatography–mass spectrometry for copolymer characterization and additive analysis

On-line coupled size exclusion chromatography-pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry (SEC-Py-GC-MS) is studied as a novel tool for the characterization of complex polymer samples. An automated system for on-line SEC-Py-GC-MS allowing transfer of multiple fractions was developed based on stop-flow operation of the SEC dimension, syringe-based transfer of the SEC fraction to the GC instrument and solvent elimination with subsequent pyrolysis in a programmed temperature vaporization (PTV) injector. After optimization the system was applied to the characterization of a complex terpolymer composed of very similar monomers. The use of the system for combined pyrolysis and additive analyses in polycarbonate was also demonstrated. Results obtained with the new method indicate the interesting potentials of the method for detailed characterization of polymeric materials.

Hyphenation of infrared spectroscopy to liquid chromatography for qualitative and quantitative polymer analysis: Degradation of poly(bisphenol A)carbonate

Hyphenation of infrared spectroscopy (IR) to liquid chromatography (LC) has been applied to study chemical changes in poly(bisphenol A)carbonate (PC) as a result of degradation. Especially coupling of LC to FTIR through solvent elimination is a sensitive approach to identify changes in functionality observed in the LC chromatograms as has been demonstrated by coupling of liquid chromatography under critical conditions (LCCC) to IR. Furthermore, an example is shown in which two-dimensional liquid chromatography, i.e. LCCC x SEC, was coupled to IR by means of a flow cell. This resulted in data sets containing most probably valuable data, but extracting relevant information from these large data sets is not straightforward at all. Therefore, multivariate data analysis (MVDA) of SEC-FTIR data was used to extract relevant data from large data sets. This approach revealed chemical differences due to degradation that could not be detected by other means. Spectral features could be identified that allowed to quantitatively predict the degradation of poly(bisphenol A)carbonate as a function of degradation conditions.

Comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography and hyphenated liquid chromatography to study the degradation of poly(bisphenol A)carbonate

Size exclusion chromatography (SEC), gradient polymer elution chromatography (GPEC) and liquid chromatography at critical conditions (LC-CC) have been developed and applied to observe chemical changes in poly(bisphenol A)carbonate (PC) due to hydrolytic degradation. Especially LC-CC appeared to be very successful to observe differences in functionality of PC as result of hydrolytic degradation. Observed differences due to degradation could be identified by (semi) on-line coupling to matrix assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). The differences in functionality could be attributed to the formation of different end-groups, i.e. OH end-groups. In addition, comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) has been applied successfully to study the hydrolytic degradation of PC. LC-CC x SEC showed that the formation of PC with different end-groups occurred over the whole molecular mass range. This information could not be obtained with the separate liquid chromatographic techniques, thereby illustrating the added value of 2D-LC.

Comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography with on-line Fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy detection for the characterization of copolymers

The on-line coupling of comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (liquid chromatography x size-exclusion chromatography, LC x SEC) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy has been realized by means of an IR flow cell. The system has been assessed by the functional-group analysis of a series of styrene-methylacrylate (SMA) copolymers with varying styrene content. Ultraviolet (UV) detection was used as a detection technique to verify the detection with IR. The LC x SEC-IR functional-group contour plots (comprehensive chromatograms) obtained for styrene were in agreement with the contour plots constructed from the UV signal. In addition, contour plots can be obtained from non-UV-active groups. One such plot, for the carbonyl-stretching vibration of methylacrylate (MA), is shown. Selective detection of MA proved possible using flow cell IR detection. The combination of the contour plots for styrene and MA allowed a full characterization of the copolymer and it was revealed that the present series of SMA copolymers exhibited homogeneous chemical-composition distributions (CCDs). In addition, commercially available fast-SEC columns have been assessed in this study with respect to their potential to serve as second-dimension separation columns.

Size-exclusion chromatography-a review of calibration methodologies

Recent developments are reviewed in size exclusion chromatographic calibration methodologies, including direct calibration by using narrow and broad polymer standards and various instrumental methods (nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, light scattering) as well as universal calibration with and without viscometry detectors, for simple and complex polymers.

Determination of chemical composition distributions in synthetic polymers

A characteristic feature of synthetic polymers is their dispersity in molar mass and, in many cases, chemical composition. Since dispersity is highly relevant in relation to polymer properties, ongoing efforts are being put in the development of appropriate analysis methods. In this respect, size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) is well known for the determination of molar mass distributions. Methods for chemical composition distributions are less mature than SEC and mainly include liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry and the combination of these techniques. The term chemical composition distribution is considered broad in this paper, i.e. for the chemical composition distribution of a (co)polymer backbone, for the functionality type distribution of a polymers' functional end groups, for the block length distribution of a block copolymer, for the branching distribution and for the tacticity distribution. In this paper, analysis methods for all types of chemical composition distributions are reviewed. Special attention is paid to practical requirements and common misconceptions that sometimes arise. Applications within the last 5 years are summarized.

Comparison of on-line flow-cell and off-line solvent-elimination interfaces for size-exclusion chromatography and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy in polymer analysis

Two commercial liquid chromatography-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy interfaces (LC-FTIR), viz. a flow cell and a solvent-elimination interface have been assessed for use in size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) with respect to their chromatographic integrity (i.e. peak asymmetry, chromatographic resolution), quantitative and qualitative aspects. A polycarbonate/aliphatic polyester (PC/APE) blend and a polycarbonate-co-polydimethylsiloxane (PC-co-PDMS) copolymer were selected for the assessment. Both samples were successfully and selectively analyzed. The relatively large volume of the flow cell and the inherent deposition characteristics of the solvent-elimination interface led to a comparable decrease in the chromatographic resolution. The separation of oligomers was diminished in comparison with SEC-ultra-violet (UV). However, the peak asymmetry was not significantly affected by either interface. For both interfaces, a linear relationship was obtained for the FTIR response versus the injected concentration. The sensitivity was found to be higher for the solvent-elimination interface. For the current model compounds, the flow-cell interface detection limits are worse. However, the repeatability of flow-cell SEC-FTIR, evaluated by means of four SEC-FTIR analyses of polycarbonate, was considerably better than for solvent-elimination SEC-FTIR. This is probably due to the well-defined optical path length of the sample in the flow cell. By spectral subtraction, it was very well possible to obtain qualitative (functional group) information for compound identification also with flow-cell SEC-FTIR.

Comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography of polymers

The need for and the emergence of comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatographic separations of synthetic polymers are reviewed in this paper. LC x SEC is shown to be a particularly valuable two-dimensional technique in this domain. An improved (symmetrical) configuration based on a single 10-way switching valve is described. The use of LC x SEC to understand and optimize one-dimensional separations is illustrated, as well as the potential of the technique for the separation and characterization of functional polymers and copolymers.