Application of size-exclusion chromatography to polymers of ultra-high molar mass

Characterization of ultrahigh molecular weight poly(ethylene oxide) by size-exclusion chromatography with multiangle light scattering detection

This study investigated the experimental conditions needed to obtain molecular weight distribution (MWD) of ultrahigh MW poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) using size exclusion chromatography (SEC) hyphenated with a multiangle light scattering photometer (MALS) and a differential refractive index detector (RI). Ultrahigh MW components yielded non-linear angular dependency in scattered light intensities. The first-order linear fitting using Zimm formalism resulted in significant differences in MW depending on if the signals from detector 4 to 16 were used in the fitting or only five low-angles from 4 to 8 were used. In contrast, no significant differences in MW were obtained for lower MW PEO samples (equal or less than 1000 KDa) between the two fitting approaches. It was thus proposed to use only the five low-angles to derive MW for a sample with broad polydispersity including both ultrahigh and low MW components. The SEC separation was done using one column designed for ultrahigh MW polymer separation connected with another mixed-bed column. The ultrahigh MW column allowed separation and characterization of polymeric components in the MW range between 10 and 50 million Dalton (MDa) and the size range between 300 and 600 nm in radius of gyration (Rg). Online calibration curves were obtained from the linear fittings of MW as a function of elution volume. MW polydispersity was derived from the online calibration curve showing that the ultrahigh MW PEO had higher polydispersity than the lower MW samples. The double logarithmic plot of radius of gyration versus MW indicated that both ultrahigh MW and low MW PEO would adopt expanded coil conformations in the aqueous solution.

Do column frits contribute to the on-column, flow-induced degradation of macromolecules?

Flow-induced, on-column degradation is a major hindrance to the accurate characterization of ultra-high molar mass macromolecules and colloids. This degradation is a direct result of the large shear rates which are generated within the column, which cause chain scission to occur both in the interstitial medium and, it has been postulated, at the packing particle pore boundary. An additional putative source of degradation has been the column frits, though little experimental evidence exists to either support or refute this claim. To this effect, the present experiments examine the role of the frits in the degradation of high molar mass macromolecules. Two narrow dispersity polystyrene standards, the molar mass of which differs by a factor of two, were analyzed on three different size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) columns, each with frits of different pore size, at various flow rates. In the smallest pore size column, which also contained the smallest frits and which was packed with the smallest diameter particles, the larger standard was forced to degrade by increasing the flow rate of the mobile phase. During the course of the latter portion of the study, the inlet and the outlet frits were removed from the column, in stepwise fashion. It was concluded that neither frit played any appreciable role in the degradation. Results of our studies were applied to explain previously observed degradation in ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography of polymers. The general conclusion arrived at herein is that the column frits are likely to have a secondary role (as compared to interstitial and pore boundary stresses), or no role at all, in polymer degradation for cases where the frit radius is larger than or equal to the hydraulic radius rcof the column.